It could be a wacky rumor or it could be the casting stroke of genius we’ve been waiting for – The Insider says that JJ Abrams wants Matt Damon to play Captain Kirk in his new, rebooted Star Trek. And by The Insider I mean the glossy celeb TV show, not fat Russell Crowe.
JJ is supposedly really hot on the idea, so hot that he went and got the blessing of William Shatner. I would love it if the Shat felt Damon wasn’t good enough to play the role that he and his girdle once made famous, but apparently Denny Crane didn’t sue, and so Abrams is moving ahead.
I don’t know how reliable The Insider’s source is on this one, by the way – the piece claims Abrams is directing the Star Trek reboot, and I feel like that was debunked some time ago (the biggest hassle when it comes to writing for a site like this is remembering the little bits of info, and when those little bits of info were confirmed or denied). It also talks about the film being set at “a space academy” where Kirk and Spock become friends – Damon’s a touch too old to be at a space academy, I think.
Finally, I have to wonder what Mission: Impossible 3’s severe underperformance did for Abrams at Paramount. That film was their summer – could its relative failure hurt him when it comes to Star Trek? That deal was announced while Abrams was still the studio’s golden boy… aka before MI3 began stinking up theaters.