Chris Pine Beams Up…Sort Of
Oct 18, 2007
Set your Phasers on stun! Rumors are circulating that actor Chris Pine has given up the lead role in the upcoming James Ellroy adaptation of “White Jazz” because he’s landed the much coveted role of Captain James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams highly-anticipated “Star Trek” film project.
In an entry posted on his blog this week, “White Jazz” director Joe Carnahan confessed “the young man playing Junior Stemmons has opted to ‘go where no man has gone before’ and thus, had to bow out of White Jazz.”
“I’ve been talking to him this past week” Carnahan said, “and knew how tough the decision had to be for him”
He adds “I don’t envy ever being in that spot but I gave him my full support, even if it meant he didn’t do Jazz. You don’t get opportunities like that often and I told him as long as he could control as much of that process as possible and not get sucked into doing lesser sequels as a result of taking this gig, then good luck and God bless.”
Paramount has yet to make an official announcement regarding Pine’s casting, it’s one of the two key Enterprise crew members left to be filled. The other is Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, which sources claim Australian actor Karl Urban (“The Bourne Supremacy,” “Pathfinder”) is in negotiations for. Urban was previously attached to play the film’s villain Nero, a role that ultimately went to fellow Aussie actor Eric Bana.
If the rumors are true, Pine and Urban will be joining Zachary Quinto as Spock, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, John Cho as Sulu and Zoe Saldana as Uhura. Leonard Nimoy will reprise his role as the elder Spock in what is apparently a prequel to the very popular “Star Trek” series.
Sources: SmokinJoeCarnahan.com, Dark Horizons
