First Contact!

These are the first pics from J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek movie, filming somewhere in Orange County (!). Supposedly, they’re filming by an undisclosed hangar location, which could only mean three possibilities: John Wayne airport (which would seem improbable given the amount of noise around), the old Tustin Marine Base down the street from my office, or El Toro Marine Base. I’m tempted to go find them.

Regardless, the first picture is most likely of Chris Pine, the new Captain James Tiberius Kirk. The second photo is ~duh~ Zachary Quinto as a young Spock.

The pictures were found at JFX Online, which is a street photojournalism site (a.k.a. a spot for paparazzi). Here’s a link to more Kirk pics and some more Spock pics.

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In other Star Trek XI news, William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk, is miffed about not being included in the film. However, it’s been noted that his second in command, Leonard Nimoy, plays a large role in the film, reprising his role as the first Spock, along side Zachary Quinto’s young Spock. Shatner’s been quoted as saying, “How could you not put one of the founding figures into a movie that was being resurrected? That doesn’t make sense to me!” Expanding upon that, he also said, “I’ve become even more popular than I was playing Captain Kirk – I’m good box and I get publicity,” though he did concede that it will probably be a good film: “They are going in a different direction and it’ll be a wonderful film.”

Okay, first of all, yes, it would’ve been nice to include the original Captain Kirk in the film. However, there are two reasons not to: 1) the plot supposedly revolves around a rogue Romulan who goes back in time to try to assassinate James T. Kirk, and it’s up to an older Spock to partner with his younger self to prevent any changes to the timeline; and 2) in the current Star Trek universe, Shatner’s Kirk is…
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(wait for it…)
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(waaaaaait for it…)
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Dead. He died in the ridiculous Star Trek: Generations, saving Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the rest of the universe.

So that’s that.

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It also seems that I failed to report on a few of new cast members. Kirk’s father, George Kirk, will be played by actor Chris Hemsworth, who actually has already wrapped his portion of the film. His filmography is limited to parts in his native Australia. He’s 24 by the way, in case any of the ladies who read this are interested.

Clifton Collins, Jr. will play Ayel, a Romulan who helps Eric Bana’s Romulan, Nero, in the film. He’s appeared in Babel, Traffic, some episodes of Abrams’ TV series Alias, the John Woo movie The Replacement Killers, and an episode of ER. I only list so many things because he looks really familiar to me. I think it’s from Babel or The Replacement Killers.

Jennifer Morrison, of TV’s House fame, has been tabbed to play an undisclosed character. Initial rumors were that she was cast to play Yeoman Janice Rand, a sort of “hottie in the background” character from ST:TOS, but those have been debunked by Abrams himself. Other prospective characters Morrison could play would be “Number One,” the Captain Christopher Pike’s first in command from the original Star Trek pilot (as reported by SyFyPortal.com), or IESB.net’s conjecture that she will play a pregnant Winona Kirk, wife of George Kirk and mother of James T. Kirk.

Also cast has been the role of Sarek, Spock’s father. Chariots of Fire actor Ben Cross will portray a role made famous by Mark Leonard.