The British actor Simon Pegg, famous for his roles in the UK movies “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of The Dead” has signed on to play Montgomery Scotty in the Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrams.

The role of the chief engineers Montgomery Scotty was played in the original TV series by James Doohan.

Simon Pegg, 37, played the role of Benji, in the Mission Imposbile III, directed also by JJ Abrams.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the role of Sulu, originally played by George Takei, will be given to John Cho.

The Star Trek movie iss slated for a Christmas Day 2008 release. Star Trek’s lineup already includes Anton Yelchin (“Huff,” “Alpha Dog”) as a younger version of Russian navigator Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig in the original TV series and seven feature films, and Zachary Quinto (“24,” “Heroes”) as young Mr. Spock.

Also in mid-September, Variety announced that actress Zoe Saldana had been signed to play Uhura, the Enterprise's chief communications officer, a role famously originated by Nichelle Nichols.

Nichelle Nichols portrayed Uhura both on the big screen and on the small screen and was one the first black women to have a prominent role in a major television series.

Zoe Saldana, 29, has played in “Drumline” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

The Australian actor Eric Bana, famous for his roles in Troy, Munich and Hulk, will play Star Trek villain Nero.