JohnCho Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Those attending VegasCon '08 saw four new character posters for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, which give us our first look at the reborn versions of Sulu, Chekov, Scotty and McCoy. The image above shows Karl Urban as Leonard McCoy and Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov; you'll have to go to TrekMovie.com, which had the first photo of the posters, to see Simon Pegg as Scotty and John Cho as Sulu. It should surprise no one that these Starfleet officers are much more photogenic than their original counterparts, and not, I think, merely because they're younger. (I mean, look at this guy.)

This comes on the heels of the first screening of the complete film for Paramount execs, which apparently went very well, though since the source for that could really only be from inside Paramount, I'd take that with a huge grain of salt.

I came to Star Trek late, which led to oddball results like my liking Star Trek: Voyager. (I think that asking "What would Janeway do?" is a good way to lead your life.) So I'm likely to be less offended by canon alterations than die-hard fans of the original series. Thoughts on the new versions of these characters?

Some news bites for your Friday:

• There's a new drama that's begun production called Saint John of Las Vegas, and Variety reports that it has collected a pretty sweet cast -- Steve Buscemi, Romany Malco, Emily Mortimer, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Peter Dinklage. Said to be loosely based on Dante's Inferno, of all things, and written by new scribe Hue Rhodes, Buscemi stars as "an ex-gambler who's under the tutelage of a maverick insurance fraud investigator (Malco)." I'm not quite sure how that works, but you can be sure that there'll be a lot of struggle and vice. And John Cho in a drama? Will he finally be breaking out of his usual comedic gigs?
• In other news, that untitled parkour pic that I mentioned back in February of 2007, starring Channing Tatum, is still in the works. Variety reports that New Line is finally shooing the project into production early next year, with Richie Smyth making his feature directorial debut. The film is said to be about a NYC cop who has to infiltrate a group of parkour-loving bank robbers. Does this mean Tatum has to learn himself some parkour? And I still want to know: Will David Belle be involved?

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the sequel to the modern stoner classic Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, hit theaters last Friday. I sat down with the film's writer/directors -- Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg -- a few days after the release of their film. In the interest of journalistic integrity (and shameless name-dropping), I should tell you that the gentlemen are friends of mine, and all around great dudes.

Cinematical: How did the Hurwitz/Schlossberg magic begin?

Jon Hurwitz: Hayden and I became friends on the Randolph High School debate team and connected over a common love of comedy. We were both obsessed with the movies of the Farrelly Brothers and the Zucker Brothers. We loved Howard Stern. We thought it would be amazing if we could actually make movies one day. But it felt like it was the most unrealistic goal of all time for a couple of dudes hanging out in a basement in New Jersey. What changed everything for us was that in high school we were known for coming up with really funny "Would you rather?" scenarios. We came up with a list of 250 that we were going to try to get published.

Cinematical: What was the best one?

JH: "If you had to be sexually abused, would you rather it be by an android or a Muppet?"

Cinematical: Muppet. It's softer.

Hayden Schlossberg: Exactly. Plain and simple. It would hurt less. That is the correct answer.

Star Trek news is so rare that I have actually been asked by a few people "Oh wow, if you hear anything -- anything, you must pass it on." So I am trying. No snippet is too small, no evasive response too bland. I even know of one Trek fan that was sold on the new movie by just the Simon Pegg story, so there you go -- even the smallest story can change the course of the future.

This one is in a very similar vein. John Cho was interviewed over at AICN for Harold and Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay and though he tried very hard, a few Star Trek snippets leaked out. Don't punish him, Mr. Abrams -- how can you resist both Quint and Neil Patrick Harris?

Cho was quick to defend the secrecy surrounding the film. "The reason J.J. [Abrams] wants to keep that under wraps is he just thinks that that the surprise -- he really is looking out for the audience. He feels like it's a good move, so that the audience really experiences it in a fresh way. But what I can say about it is the spirit of it feels like it's honoring what has come before it, just visually, and the script, and all of the actors he has chosen. And it just feels like it is honoring what has come before and I feel like, fingers crossed, we will garner some new fans as well."

When I went to see Cloverfield over the weekend, the crowd was pretty lively through the trailers. It was not in an excited fan way, but in that last-minute rush of chatter during something that holds little interest. That being said, conversations wrapped up pretty quickly when the Star Trek teaser popped up. At first, when the Bad Robot emblem appeared, people kept talking. I waited. It got a bit more silent as J.J. Abrams' name hit the screen with John F. Kennedy's words bellowing from the speakers. But then, a split second later when the Enterprise came into view, the crowd went wild.

While theater-goers got to see the first teaser in all its glory on Friday, it didn't make it's official appearance on the net until today. Now you can head over to Yahoo and check it out for yourself. Personally, I dug the connections the teaser made between the creation of the ship and America's first forays into space. It made the whole thing seem more real. But maybe all you need is the sight of the Enterprise, and Leonard Nimoy's gravelly voice.

For me, unfortunately, it was a bit ruined when the credits showed up -- I just can't take the idea of John Cho as Sulu seriously. But whatever happens, Star Trek is on its way. What do you think?

I'm still holding out for the surprise announcement that William Shatner will indeed appear in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. In the meantime, though, I expect to hear another complaint from the original Captain Kirk after reading this juicy bit of goodness: George Takei has a cameo in the upcoming movie*, which will be a prequel-ish reboot of the TV and movie franchise. According to a Starburst magazine interview with the actor, Takei will feature in a flash-forward scene that will also showcase original Spock, Leonard Nimoy. From the sound of it, he will be returning to his iconic role as an older version of Sulu. Best guess is that Takei and Nimoy will be sitting in futuristic rocking chairs reminiscing about their beginnings at the Starfleet Academy, and this scene will be the prologue to the rest of the movie. Playing the younger versions of Sulu and Spock throughout the rest of the film are John Cho and Zachary Quinto, respectively.

Well, if Shatner doesn't put up more of a fuss, the fans should. After all, as long as we're getting two of the surviving original cast members, why can't we get the rest? Sure, it would be a sad scene, considering DeForest Kelley (Bones) and James Doohan (Scotty) aren't around to be a part of such a reunion, but the Trekkies would certainly appreciate seeing Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru), Walter Koenig and of course Shatner together again. Am I right? They could all have a few laughs while yelling at the kids to get off their damn lawns. And we could all feel better about having to accept all new actors as these beloved characters. So, who is going to start the online petition? Oh wait, that's already been done.

*UPDATE: Apparently this is just another rumor, one that has been debunked. According to TrekMovie.com, Takei will not have a cameo in the new Star Trek.

Word from The Hollywood Reporter is that New Zealand actor Karl Urban has joined the cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek re-start. Fans of fantastical cinema will no doubt remember Urban from his work in Lord of the Rings, The Bourne Supremacy, Doom, The Chronicles of Riddick and Pathfinder. Mr. Urban will be playing medical officer "Bones" McCoy, a character made famous by the late DeForest Kelley. Plot details are still being kept under wraps, but here's what the all-new Enterprise crew looks like...

Captain Kirk (previously played by William Shatner) -- Chris Pine (27 years old)
Spock (Leonard Nimoy) -- Zachary Quinto (30)
Sulu (George Takei) -- John Cho (35)
McCoy (DeForest Kelley) -- Karl Urban (35)
Scotty (James Doohan) -- Simon Pegg (37)
Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) -- Zoe Saldana (29)
Chekov (Walter Koenig) -- Anton Yelchin (18)


...and Eric Bana as the villainous Nero. (With a special appearance from Leonard Nimoy!) Production on the film is expected to run from November to March. So what do you think of the whole crew?

Also, feel free to pick through our numerous reports on this flick. Like right here, here and here.