An Internet-fueled rumor that the next "Star Trek" movie will star Matt Damon as Captain Kirk has roiled Trekkies, who have taken to blogs and message boards to express their displeasure.
Speculation that Mr. Damon would take on the role made famous by William Shatner has been swirling for more than a month on entertainment news and gossip sites. But the hand-wringing has recently gathered momentum, thanks to a page on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), a popular movie site, which said Mr. Damon would indeed take the lead role in "Star Trek XI." Slashdot, Metafilter, Digg and other Web sites have pointed to the page this week, with users saying IMDB had confirmed fans' fears.
"I seriously don't think I can stomach Matt Damon as Cpt. Kirk," wrote one Digg commenter. Hundreds of tongue-in-cheek casting suggestions poured into Slashdot after it linked to the IMDB page, including Ben Affleck as the pointy-eared Spock and Oprah Winfrey as communications specialist Uhura.
