Chris Pine In Talks To Be ‘Unstoppable’

It’s been revealed that Chris Pine, who recently starred as the new James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot, is currently in negotiations with 20th Century Fox to star alongside Denzel Washington in the Tony Scott-directed thriller, Unstoppable. If Pine gets the gig, it will be his first post-Star Trek role, and the movie will be the fifth pairing of Washington and Scott.

The news that Pine was in talks to star in Unstoppable came from Washington himself backstage at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards (where both Washington and Pine each presented an award). Washington said:

“I’m going to shoot a movie in the fall called ‘Unstoppable’ – me and Tony Scott – and Chris Pine’s going to do it with us… I hope I’m not speaking out of line. I think they made a deal with him, and I’m supposed to meet him next week.”

Although Washington jumped the gun a bit by saying that he thinks Fox made a deal with Pine for Unstoppable, a spokeswoman for the studio came out and said, “We’re in negotiations with him, but no deal yet.” So even if this is not a confirmation that Pine has the role on lock, it’s still a strong possibility and if I had to guess, I’d say that Pine will soon be cast in the role.

Based loosely on a true story, Unstoppable sees Washington as, “a veteran engineer who hooks up with a young train conductor to stop a runaway train carrying a payload of toxic chemicals.” There’s no word yet if the role Pine is in talks for is the train conductor, but it seems quite likely. Scott added to the description by saying, “”It’s based on a real event… So it’s a real story. I’m going to shoot it like a documentary. Remember ‘Touching the Void’?” Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard) is penning the script.

Since this is Washington’s fifth time working with Scott (the fourth being the upcoming remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3), you might be wondering what the attraction is for them to keep on working together, time and time again. Washington had this to say:

“It’s like a good marriage… We work well together. We trust each other. He [Scott] knows how to put ‘em together. He knows how to make hits. And he called me!”

Washington described Unstoppable as, “‘Speed’ on steroids,” and said that, “If ‘Pelham 1 2 3′ will put you on the edge of your seat, this one will put you in CPR in the back of the theater.” Now, of course the star of both those movies is going to praise them to high heaven, but nonetheless it’s positive to hear.

It’s definitely good to see that Pine is not just riding on the coattails of his success as Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek. Pine could have easily just enjoyed that success for months and months – perhaps until the inevitable Star Trek sequel comes along. But even if Unstoppable is sure to be a blockbuster action-thriller like Star Trek was, this runaway train story is still world’s way from the USS Enterprise.

What do you think of Chris Pine starring in Unstoppable as his first post-Star Trek role? Do you like the sound of the film?

Unstoppable is set to start production this fall and is aimed for release sometime in 2011.

Source: MTV News