Confirmed : Pine is Kirk

New Captain Kirk is announced…. on a blog

I love it when another outlet beats the trades to a major scoop. I especially love it when a filmmaker blurts out something that quite possibly, the powers-that-be don’t want revealed yet. Such was the case today when filmmaker Joe Carnahan announced on his blog that Chris Pine (“Just My Luck”, “Smokin’ Aces”) had refused an offer to appear in his new film (“White Jazz”) because he’s accepted the lead role – that’d be Captain James T.Kirk – in the new “Star Trek” pictureroo.

Carnahan, who worked with Pine on “Smokin’ Aces”, tells readers that “The young man playing Junior Stemmons has opted to ‘boldly 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 and knew how tough the decision had to be for him.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. I get it. 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. We’re sure to do something down the road. I’ve already slotted him in for KILLING PABLO.”

I don’t know what I quite think of Pine as Kirk yet – he doesn’t scream ‘Enterprise captain’ to me, but I’m sure J.J Abrams knows what he’s doing, and wouldn’t just cast the lad because it’d miff Joe Carnahan who now has to find another actor to play Junior Stemmons (might I suggest giving young Joel Edgerton a shot, Joe? He near walked away with “Smokin’ Aces”).