Brit thespo Simon Pegg, who's previously entertained the crowds in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, will play a young Scotty in the next celluloid Star Trek outing, Reuters reports.

Pegg joins Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, John Cho as Sulu and Zachary Quinto as Spock in the film which reportedly, and logically, "chronicles the early days of the Enterprise crew". Leonard Nimoy will also put in an appearance, while Eric Bana signed up this week as the movie's villain, Nero.

Regarding Kirk, Chris Pine is apparently "in talks" to take on the challenge.

J J Abrams (Mission: Impossible 3) will take the helm of the movie slated to shoot from November to March 2008. ®

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