I know I was a little let down by the Villain and Kirk castings announced earlier this week, but this shocker is more to my liking. Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg has been cast as Scotty in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek. Pegg joins Eric Bana (as a villain named Nero), Anton Yelchin (as Chekov), Zachary Quinto (as young Spock), Zoe Saldan (as Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (as older Spock), and possibly Chris Pine (as Kirk) who was offered the role or Kirk.

I’m a huge fan of Simon Pegg, and am glad to see him in any movie, but his casting in this film even seems strange. He’s not even on my list of the top ten people who could play Scotty (if I were to have said list). What do you guys think of Pegg’s casting?

TrekMovie is also reporting that Korean born actor John Cho has been tipped to be the new Hikaru Sulu (originally played by the great George Takei). Cho is a capable actor, but much like the rest of the Trek castings, not exactly who you might would expect for the role. Cho has mainly been seen in comedic roles, best known as Harold from Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and the Milf kid from American Pie. His demeanor is far from what many fans expect from this character.

Some fans might also be upset that Cho is Korean and not Japanese American, as the original casting sheets called for. But let us remind you that Gene Roddenberry originally envisioned the Sulu character to be more of a general representative of the Asia culture (as Uhura was for Africa).

And moviehole also broke the news today that Star Trek’s budget has ballooned to the ballpark of $150 to $160 million, which is more than double the series biggest budget film to date. If true, this is amazing, considering the cast is mostly young stars. There are no names (announced thus far) which would demand a huge contract.

Paramount will begin production in early November, and the film is scheduled to hit theaters on Christmas Day 2008.

source: Variety, moviehole, trekmovie