Benicio del Toro Beams Out of Star Trek 2
Posted 12.06.11 by Ryan
The debate over whether or not Benicio del Toro (Traffic) would play the villain Khan Noonien Singh, in the highly-anticipated sequel Star Trek 2, kept the Internet lively for the past couple weeks. However, the debate is finally over as del Toro has dropped out of the sequel.
According to Vulture, negotiations with del Toro broke down between Paramount and the Academy Award–winning actor when the two sides couldn't agree on money. Director J.J. Abrams recently revealed his interest in working with del Toro on his highly-successful 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise, but will have to replace him instead.
The role del Toro would have played is still a topic of some debate. While speculation had cast del Toro as Khan, Abrams recently refuted the rumors with a succinct "not true", but that's not enough to stop the Khan rumors. Despite Abrams' denial, Vulture cites "a highly placed source" that the villain in the movie will indeed be Khan. Either the source is more "highly placed" than Abrams, which seems unlikely, or Abrams was trying to deceive the media. Or Abrams' admission of "not true" ahd more to do with del Toro's involvement than the character of Khan.
Of course, it's also possible that the source is completely wrong, too, but that won't stop the Star Trek fansites from debating the choice of Khan as the sequel's villain. To add fuel to the flames, we'll point out that, in 2009, Star Trek screenwriter Roberto Orci said that Khan's chances of showing up as the villain in the sequel were "50/50."
Asking the Star Trek cast for answers won't help settle the debate, as most recently claim that they haven't read the script. "I'm sure before we finish shooting, I'll see one," John Cho (Sulu) told E! Online while attending a charity event in Beverly Hills co-chaired by Abrams. "Maybe we'll get a clue tonight. I'd be curious to know whether I'm in it. That'd be the greatest gift bag of all time."
Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Zachary Quinto (Spock) and Zoe Saldana (Uhura) were also at the event, with Yelchin admitting that he doesn't know what will happen in the sequel. "Your guess is good as mine," said Yelchin.
Abrams wasn't much help either. "It's out there somewhere," said Abrams when asked about the sequel's script. "I'm sure there's one in a safe somewhere."
Peter Weller (Robocop, Dexter) was recently cast in an unspecified role in the sequel, joining Alice Eve (She's Out of My League) as the sequel's two newcomers so far. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the rest of the Enterprise crew will be reprising their roles in Star Trek 2, which was written by screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.
Next Showing: Star Trek 2 opens in 3-D on May 17, 2013