Star Trek's New Scotty

While you may have voted for James McAvoy or Paul McGillion at SciFi.com to take over the role of Scotty on Star Trek, producers had other ideas. According to Variety, SHAUN OF THE DEAD's Simon Pegg will play Scotty in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek movie. John Cho (Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle)will take on the role of helmsman Sulu, according to The Hollywood Reporter. English actor Pegg, who had a brief but memorable role in Abrams' Mission: Impossible III, takes over the role of the U.S.S. Enterprise's chief engineer, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, a role originally played by James Doohan in the TV series and subsequent films. Cho, meanwhile, will take on the role of Hikaru Sulu from George Takei. Sulu was known for his love of fencing and was always seen on deck piloting the ship next to Chekov. Pegg and Cho join a cast that already includes Eric Bana, Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy. Written by TRANSFORMERS scripters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the new Star Trek chronicles the early days of James T. Kirk and his crew. Chris Pine has reportedly been offered the role of Kirk. Paramount has set a November start date for the film, which will hit theaters on Christmas Day 2008. Pegg was last seen in Hot Fuzz, directed by his Shaun partner Edgar Wright.