Chalk up another victory for Team Abrams, because veteran actor Peter Weller is joining the cast of Star Trek 2!
Weller, who is perhaps best known in the sci-fi world for his portrayal of Robocop in 1987, also starred in Odyssey 5, Naked Lunch (Burroughs), Screamers and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
Obviously, Abrams is remaining tight-lipped about what character Weller will be playing, but Deadline reports he has been assigned an unspecified principal role.
This is indeed good news for Star Trek 2, as Weller will bring years of acting/directing experience to the set, along with decades of sci-fi lore that the younger actors may find quite useful.
Weller will be joining the returning original reboot cast headed by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, which is also likely to include Alice Eve and Benicio Del Toro.
Much like Weller, Del Toro’s role in the film remains a mystery, although JJ Abrams is adamant that he will not be playing Khan (originally depicted by Ricardo Montalban), one of the favorite villains in the rather expansive Star Trek universe.
Star Trek 2 will kick off production on January 15, 2012 and is slated to hit theaters on May 17, 2013.
