A new rumor appeared online today claiming that Star Trek XI director J.J. Abrams is hoping to cast Tom Cruise as Captain Christopher Pike.

Similar rumors also appeared on the internet last Fall, when Cruise was mentioned for one of the film's main roles. A Cruise spokesman then denied the rumors, which already seemed unlikely due to the public feud between Cruise and Viacom chief Sumner Redstone. However, these new rumors only claim Abrams is looking at Cruise for a cameo role, which might be a favor the star would be willing to grant to his Mission: Impossible III director.

Christopher Pike was captain of the Enterprise in the unaired pilot for the original Star Trek series, "The Cage." Footage from that pilot, in which Pike was played by Jeffrey Hunter, was later used in the two-part episode "The Menagerie." In established Star Trek lore, Spock already served aboard the Enterprise under Captain Pike before Kirk took command of the ship, so there seem to be numerous ways in which Pike could be included in the story for the new film.

IGN stressed that at this point there only seems to be a proposal from Abrams, and that there's no indication as to whether Cruise will actually accept the role.

In addition to their Cruise rumor, IGN noted that Paramount is trying to land an "A-lister" to play the film's main villain, but the site didn't reveal the name of this actor.

For the original report from IGN, please follow this link.

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