Source: Entertainment Weekly
After becoming a household name as the James T. Kirk of the (alternate) future in J.J. Abrams much lauded Star Trek, Chris Pine signed on for a plethora of projects, including Tony Scott’s Unstoppable (currently in post-production for a November release) and a handful of films at Paramount Pictures, including The Art Of Making Money and a reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise, tentatively titled Moscow.
Before jumping into any of those or the eventual Star Trek sequel, Entertainment Weekly reports that he’ll fight an as-yet-unnamed second male lead for the affections of Reese Witherspoon in McG and 20th Century Fox’s action comedy This Means War. The film, which was purchased by Fox in 1998 and has seen numerous combinations of actors and directors come and go since, tells the story of two best friends, inseparable since childhood, who fall in love with the same woman (Witherspoon). The two men’s bond disintegrates and their ensuing battle escalates to mammoth proportions, with New York City demolished in their wake. The most recent draft of the script is by Timothy Dowling (Role Models) and the studio hopes to start filming the in July.
I’m happy to see Pine getting bigger roles these days; he’s certainly come a long way since Just My Luck. Even in that 2004 Lindsay Lohan stinker, the 29 year old actor showed promise with plenty of charisma and all American looks. He played against type and was nearly unrecognizable (and wildly entertaining) as Darwin Tremor in Joe Carnahan’s kinetic actioner Smokin’ Aces and proved that he’s got the right stuff as the cocksure Captain Kirk in Trek, which has led him to the lucrative career path he’s now on. I’m sure that we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the future, so get used to Pine as the movie star he was always meant to be.
