J.J. Abrams teaming up with Jack Black?

Posted Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 2:50 PM Central

by John Couture

Is the master of post-modern suspense and one half the duo that is Tenacious D getting ready to team up for a new adventure?

Yes and no, it seems.

There were some rumblings around the Internets the other day that J.J. Abrams had cast Jack Black as Harry Mudd in the Star Trek sequel. Of course, considering that the writers haven't even turned in a script yet for Star Trek 12, talk of casting might be premature.

That's exactly what head geek Harry Knowles thought over at Ain't It Cool News. Of course, he's got J.J.'s email and simply asked him point blank.

J.J.'s response?

Yes, talking to Jack Black about doing something -- but not Mudd.

Bryan, Damon, Alex and Bob and I have not had MEETING ONE about a sequel.

Brief, casual, blue-sky conversations, of course. But "okay, what's next for The Crew?" Not a meeting. So any character decisions, let alone actor discussions, feel like a ways away.

So, what does this tell us? Not much. You notice that he didn't discount completely Black's Star Trek involvement, just not as Mudd. But with Abrams it could be anything. A new TV series perhaps? A new movie?

According to IMDb, he has at least 10 movies in the pipeline in various states of development. And what about Harry Mudd? Thanks to that wonderful tool that is Wikipedia Harry Mudd was recurring character in the Star Trek universe who wasn't so much as a villain as he was roguish man who took advantage of every situation he could. To be honest, looking at the picture of Harry Mudd and his assumed comic nature, I could totally see Jack Black in that role.

What do you think of this potential pairing of J.J. Abrams and Jack Black? Where do you want to see them take Star Trek 12?