The Hollywood Reporter reports that J.J. Abrams has finally signed on to direct Star Trek XI — he was always going to produce it, but until tonight he had not committed to direct it.
The paper adds that the film will revolve “around a young James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, chronicling their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and their first space mission.”
I don’t know if I buy this. The Memory Alpha entries for Kirk and Spock seem to confirm that they were both at Starfleet Academy in the early 2250s, but did they ever serve together prior to 2264, which is when Kirk was first assigned to the Enterprise after roughly a decade of serving on other ships? (Spock, for his part, had been an Enterprise crew member since at least 2254.)
And please, no more rumours about Matt Damon playing “the young Kirk”. At 36 — Damon is exactly seven days younger than I am — he is already as old as William Shatner was when he began shooting the second season of the original series.
FEB 24 UPDATE: Oh, and while we’re on the subject, look at these nifty outfits that my friend Heather made for my kids:
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