Variety is reporting that Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg will portray the Enterprise's irascible engineer Montgomery Scott in J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek film.  Pegg, who started as a stand-up comedian and co-wrote the Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz films, will takeover the role made famous by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series.  The new film (in part) chronicles the early years of the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

If Chris Pine accepts the role of the young Captain Kirk (see 'Eric Bana to Play Star Trek Villain' for a rundown of the casting so far), most of the major roles will have been cast in the film, which is set to start shooting in November for a Christmas 2008 release.