Casting Call Still Out for 'Star Trek 2' Villain; Who's in J.J. Abrams's Sequel?

Casting for J.J. Abrams's upcoming "Star Trek 2" is underway. There have already been a couple of announcements made. The first one was "Entourage" and "She's Out of Your League" actor Alice Eve. Although it hasn't been announced who she'll be playing, it's said to be a significant role. The next announcement was that veteran actor Peter Weller ("Robocop") was joining the cast in a substantial role as some sort of CEO.

Director J.J. Abrams and producers are feverishly looking for an actor to replace Benicio del Toro as the villain of "Star Trek 2." Negotiations with del Toro officially fell through, leaving Abrams looking for another Latin American to take on the role. The two actors being looked at right now are Edgar Ramirez ("Carlos") and Jordi Molla ("Colombiana").

Rumors are running rampant online the production is possibly casting for the role of Khan Noonien Singh, the villain from the classic "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed" and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." The character was originally portrayed by the late Ricardo Montalban. Khan is one of the most famous and celebrated villains in the "Trek" universe.

Abrams and Paramount issued a denial, but it was unclear if it was over the role or just Del Toro's involvement. I find it very hard to believe that Abrams or any of the higher-ups at Paramount would even remotely entertain that idea. The backlash from "Star Trek" fans would be enormous. The movie would almost immediately be deemed a travesty. Having the same villain from "Star Trek II" in "Star Trek 2" just sounds too ridiculous. Surely Abrams would know how bad of an idea that would be.

Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof are writing the script for the sequel. The film isn't actually titled yet. Abrams, Kurtzman, Orci, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, and David Ellison will produce through Bad Robot and Skydance Productions. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, and Simon Pegg are all reprising their roles from the first movie.

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Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.

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