On Trek

I feel the idiotic need to post something, but since I’ve been bogged down with work, I’ll just give you the latest update on J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek movie. Actor Bruce Greenwood (above) has been cast as Captain Christopher Pike, the first captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The rumors had been that Abrams was looking at either Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama, Glory Road) or Tom Cruise for the part. Greenwood is a character actor who has most recently appeared in the cancelled HBO series “John from Cincinnati,” Déjà Vu (with Denzel Washington), and Capote (with Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Greenwood will reprise the role originally played by Jeffrey Hunter in the never-aired original pilot to Star Trek, “The Cage.” The Pike character was scrapped and William Shatner’s James T. Kirk was born when the series was picked up and Hunter was unavailable. The footage from “The Cage” was worked into the episode “The Menagerie,” which, coincidentally, airs on select movie screens Tuesday night, November 13 in a promotion of the original Star Trek series’ release on HD-DVD.

In other Abrams Star Trek news, the role of Spock’s mother has been cast as well. The new movie covers the beginnings of the Star Trek universe as we know it, and Zachary Quinto has been cast as a young(er) Spock (Vulcans live for several hundred years). Spock is the offspring of a Vulcan father, Sarek, and a human mother, Amanda Grayson. The role of Sarek has not been cast yet, but the role of Amanda Grayson goes to…

Winona Ryder.