After months of speculation, principal casting has been completed on the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek film.

Rumors have been circulating for some time about the possible candidates. Matt Damon was believed to be a front runner for the role of James T. Kirk for many months but he dismissed this as being an Internet rumor and even discussed it with director Abrams. According to Abrams, Damon is older than what he was looking for.

As previously discussed, the film will tell the story of the “classic Trek” characters, either prior to or around the time of the original series. The storyline is being kept under wraps but here’s who will be playing the young crew of the USS Enterprise:

Actor	Role	Orignated by
Chris Pine	James T. Kirk	William Shatner
Zachary Quinto	Mr. Spock	Leonard Nimoy
Karl Urban	Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy	DeForest Kelley
Simon Pegg	Montgomery “Scotty” Scott	James Doohan
John Cho	Hikaru Sulu	George Takei
Anton Yelchin	Pavel Chekov	Walter Koenig
Zoe Saldana	Uhura	Nichelle Nichols

As expected, the Enterprise will undergo a redesign but will remain “much more faithful than you might imagine,” according to Bob Orci, the film’s co-writer and executive producer. Purists can rest easy because, though this will be a new take on the classic characters, Leonard Nimoy and the film’s writers and producers have all stated that the film will respect past Trek history.

Casting is still underway for the roles of Kirk’s parents, Christopher Pike (Kirk’s predecessor, first played by Jeffrey Hunter) but Eric Bana has been cast in the role of the story’s villain Nero. Nimoy will return as an older Spock but at this point, William Shatner is still not part of the project. All involved have expressed interest in finding a suitable way for him to take part so it’s still a possibility. Current rumors are that Shatner will appear but it’s being kept secret. Production starts in a few weeks and a Christmas 2008 release date has been set. Stay tuned!