Tampabay.com
APRIL 21, 2006

Back to school for Star Trek

A plan to bring Star Trek back to the big screen has been kicked into warp speed, say Hollywood insiders. Paramount Studios, which produced the movie and TV versions of Trek, has tapped J.J. Abrams, the genius behind Lost and Alias, to guide the Enterprise back into action.

Sci-fi fans are Trek-less now for the first time in 20 years with the recent demise of the "Enterprise" series (which followed more successful "Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" series). It's been four years since the last movie version -- Star Trek: Nemesis, a shallow attempt to continue a big-screen franchise that had flourished since the Star Trek: The Motion Picture back in 1979.

The latest movie would be set long before the reigns of either Capt. Kirk or Capt. Picard. In Star Wars prequel fashion, the movie would take place at Starfleet Academy, where a young James Kirk and Mr. Spock are just trying to pass Intro to Temporal Physics and score dates with the green hotties from Orion.

So what two young stars will Hollywood anoint to play the lead roles. You need a testosterone-wild hack for Kirk, and an emotionless dead-pan for Spock.

I got it!

Leonardo DiCaprio and Freddie Prinze Jr.!

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Relive the '80s music, movies and culture with Tampa Bay Times entertainment news editor Steve Spears. A teen during the greatest decade ever, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.

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