One of last bits of major casting the new Star Trek films need to do is for Chris Pike, Spock’s captain on the Enterprise before Kirk. We know that they are looking for a well known name and now IESB is throwing one into the ring. According to their source the studio is ‘considering’ Josh Lucas (Poseidon, Glory Road) for the role originally played by Jeffrey Hunter. This cannot be confirmed at this time by TrekMovie.com. However, Lucas’ name was once heard in relation to the role of Kirk, but it couldn’t be confirmed and at 36 he seemed too old for that part. He would be in the right age range for Pike. Lucas just recently finished shooting one project and is attached to three other films, including one that will possibly overlap with the Trek shooting schedule (something the Trek producers have dealt with for other actors). (More on Lucas @ IMDB, Wikipedia)
Josh Lucas? Huh?
Actually, you’d think it wouldn’t make sense age-wise, but I just watched the Menagerie again yesterday, and it is mentioned that Kirk and Pike are “about the same age.” However, Lucas isn’t doing it for me.
Josh Lucas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbFIjpaAhwI
Works for me.
The right amount of age and experience I think.
Yeah, i think he’d be good.
Could someone please tell me why these Youtube videos always seem to feature the song Hero as the soundtrack? That tune is about as cheezeball as the theme for Enterprise and should be banned from the world! :P
As for Lucas as Pike, I don’t think of Pike when I look at him but who knows maybe he blew em away in auditions. /shrug
He reminds me of ….Paul Newman
So I approve!
Yoou do realise that at somepoint the ‘Chris Pine’/Chris Pike’ thing will be a favourite on-set joke? LOL
At least this guy can act and has charisma, which is more than I can say for some other names bandied around here over the last few months………
Looks good.
he was also in American Pyscho, Top Gun-esque flop Stealth and Hulk as Eric Banas nemesis..
bit young for Pike though? Jeff Hunter was 39 in The Cage which would make Pike in his late 40s for this film as The Menagrie is set 11 years after The Cage…then again he could act older than he is no problem…
Like Bana he’s not A list but a fairly recognisable name in movies today…i guess it wouldnt be a problem for him to return in the sequel
How about Pierce Bronson?
oh yeah and he was basically playing Tom Cruises Top Gun character in Stealth…so theres a Cruise connection sorta
#1.
I remember that quote and it always struck me as odd. Its really a mistake in the script, because Pike may have been the same age Kirk was at the time of the Cage, but the Cage was 13 years prior to the Menagerie. Commodore Mendez should have said “about your age…when he took command of the Enterprise.”
If he is cast, this will be the second time Lucas co-stars with Eric Bana. As pointed out above, Lucas played Banas’ nemesis in Hulk. Now the roles will be reversed: Lucas will be the “good guy,” and Bana will be the “bad guy.” Nice.
Whuh?
Meh.
I’d prefer someone with a lot more gravitas, and (despite that odd line in “The Menagerie”) someone older. If this is the Cage-era Pike, then maybe. But if it’s TOS-era Pike, I’d prefer someone pushing 50. If Pike really were about the same age as Kirk, and if Pike was a full-fledged Captain “13 years ago,” then Pike would’ve been commanding a starship at age 20. Maybe 19.
And, frankly, I’m already working to cope with Kirk being younger than I am, and am struggling with McCoy being younger than I am, but I don’t think I could handle Pike being younger than I am too! :)
BEEP BEEP
BEEP BEEP
BEEP BEEP
BEEP BEEP
Josh Lucas? A well-known name? WTF is Josh Lucas?!
If I were a Hollywood A-lister, I’d now officially avoid this movie like the plague. The only role left to fill is the Red Shirt who gets killed off before the opening credits stop rolling. :D
And you KNOW at least one Red Shirt is gonna buy the ranch. :D
Josh Lucas is the poor man’s Matthew McConaughey. So I dunno.
After Pike their is just Kirk’s parents left to be cast and isn’t their a Federation Captain or was that Pike?
Pike and the Federation Captain are separate characters.
Sorry to post again right after my last one. I forgot to look at TrekMovie’s cast page. Are Kirk’s Parent’s and the Federation Captain not that important roles for the movie? Also could Shatner be the Federation Captain listed in TrekMovie’s cast page?
Lucas is a putz and smarmy to boot.
15.
That post was hilarious! :D
#17 :”If I were a Hollywood A-lister, I’d now officially avoid this movie like the plague.”
I don’t know about that, but it’s true that despite early rumors there’s not been an A-list actor cast so far.
I don’t hate many actors, but I HATE Josh Lucas. I have felt optimistic about every one of the casted people so far, but if Lucas is cast as Pike, I will not be happy. Every time I have seen him in a movie or on Leno or Conan or whatever he’s struck me as a totally smarmy slimebag.
NO TO LUCAS!
I’m holding out for Joaquin Phoenix…
#7 Ditto!
i love the choice but ray liota still rules
Too young to be Pike, compared to the rest of the cast.
And let’s face it, Spock wouldn’t take this guy across the street, much less jeopardize his career to take him to Talos IV.
Scott B. out.
This guy gave a strong performance in Poseidon. I can see him as a good Pike.
Why don’t they just cast Aaron Eckhart while they’re at it? Movie still lacks a real actor.
Doesn’t seem like a good choice for Pike.
I agree with #10…Pierce Brosnan would be great for Pike. Maybe even Rob Lowe?
Why not Ray Liotta???? He is a great actor, he lookes like Jeffrey Hunter, and he’s a bigger name than Josh Lucas. I like Lucas, but this would be a miscast.
Yeah, ignore the line about Pike and Kirk being the same age: that would’ve made Pike much younger than Kirk when he took command, and it’s established that Kirk set the record for the youngest Captain of a Starship.
Re: redshirts: if this is prior to “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” there will be no redshirts. The red uniform for Engineering/Security/Hotties didn’t debut until “The Corbomite Maneuver” (in production order; anyhow The Man Trap aired before WNMHGB, so airdates make no sense if you consider the second pilot to occur prior to Season One to accommodate the changes in uniforms, sets, the big E, etc. )
There will be no redshirts unless the production evolution is ditched as a proxy for changes in the world of the story. I would be disappointed but unsurprised if the standard series costumes are used. I’m on the edge with spiky nacelles, though. Nacelle caps are a sensitive topic around here since the Smitsonian style of the first 8 Remastereds. I hate ’em, I’ll just say I only really liked the spiky nacelles for “Mirror, Mirror;” actually the spikes are OK, it’s the solid crimson caps I find ugly. A whole movie with the pilot E? I’d be torn.
This guy I’ve seen him in something… not a good feeling. Doesn’t give me a Hunter vibe at all, though I see why some might feel there’s a resemblance. Pike was the anti-slick, the earnest guy who cares too much. Not the vibe I get from Josh here. Easy on the eyes if that’s your bag.
“We have our allusion, and Josh Lucas has reality…. may we all find our way as pleasant”.
Maybe … just maybe they should recast everything… find Alan Hale and Bob Denver look alikes…. I can imagine the theme song….
(To the tune of Gilligan’s Isle …)
Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, the tale of the big E’s trip,
That started from a starfleet port aboard that warp eight ship.
The mate was a pointy-ear’d vulcan man, the skipper brave, cocksure.
Four-thirty crew set sale that day for a five year long tour. A five year long tour.
The missions started getting rough, the “wee bairns,” they were tossed,
If not for the courage of Kirk that day, the big E would be lost; the big E would be lost.
No warp, no shields, no phasers banks, No way to save his ship
“Not chess, Spock.” Let’s play poker, Let the word cor-bo-mite slip.
So join us here with your shields up, and watch trek a for a while.
From Nancy sucking out your salt ’til Klingons put Kirk on trial!
LOL, the last thing I want to see is Ray Liotta squeezed into one of those old TOS uniforms!
Hey, he looks the part more than Joaquin Phoenix does. Maybe Joaquin can play an evil Romulan Emperor :) A bit part though, because he sucks as an actor!
#10, Jon… I agree, Brosnan would be good.
I could see this guy as Pike…it could work…
Sharon Osborne for Pike.
I’m with you, Garth. BEEP BEEP to Lucas.
Oh, and Brosnan for April.
And Dominic Monaghan for Finnegan.
Tom Cruise for Harry Mudd!
Viggo Mortensen for Pike!
Well if he is Pike then this wtll confirm that he will indeed be Captain of the Enterprise the majority of the movie. The bad thing is that he is the wrong age when he hands the ship over to Kirk. He would need to be in his late 40s. He is at the age of the time of the cage here so since that was thirteen years before Kirk in the Menagerie then Kirk would have been 20 or 21 yrs old. It is definitely going to be a time trip.
Jim Fitzpatrick for Captain Pike
#39 Diabolk.Thanks for the feedback! I thought I heard a rumor they were looking for an “A” lister and when I saw Josh Lucas’ face it made me think of Pierce Bronson.I think Pierce comes across as formidable and accomplished.Sort of what You’d expect a seasoned starfleet captain to be.
Problem with Brosnan is that he is 55 yrs old +. Too Old for the Role. Pike should be around 48 when the transfer of Command takes place.
@47 Yep – that’s why Viggo is perfect. He even bears a resemblance to Hunter.
Come to think of it I think Viggo would be even better than Joaquin Phoenix. He was unbelievable in Eastern Promises.
This is the only bit of casting news that I haven’t been crazy about. I’ve watched the Remastered Menagerie, and I can’t buy this guy as Pike.