STING - CAPTAIN KIRK ACTOR CONFIRMED

Yet more casting for the new Star Trek movie has been all but confirmed today, with the boots of Captain James T Kirk almost certainly filled.

After Simon Pegg was cast as Scotty last week, as well as Harold & Kumar's John Cho as Sulu, the role of the Starship Enterprise's head honcho looks to have been allotted to one Chris Pine.

The star of such 'classics' as Just My Luck and The Princess Diaries 2, Pine doesn't exactly have the greatest movie pedigree behind him but an impressive turn in Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces put paid to his teen romcom shame.

When Pine's name was linked with the part of Captain Kirk in JJ Abrams' reinvention of the Star Trek franchise last week, rumours suggested he was toying between playing a spaceship captain and hitman Junior Stemmons in Carnahan's next movie White Jazz.

But Carnahan himself has now strongly implied that Pine has plumped to sit aboard the Enterprise.

Writing on his personal blog at smokinjoecarnahan.com, the director posted: "The young man playing Junior Stemmons has opted to 'go where no man has gone before' and thus, had to bow out of White Jazz. I've been talking to him this past week and knew how tough the decision had to be for him.

"I don't envy ever being in that spot but I gave him my full support even if it meant he didn't do Jazz," Carnahan added.

"I get it. You don't get opportunities like that often and I told him as long as he could control as much of that process as possible and not get sucked into doing lesser sequels as a result of taking this gig, then good luck and God bless".

The new Star Trek movie, due for release in December 2008, chronicles the adventures of Kirk and the Enterprise crew while at Starfleet Academy.