12.31.07: 'Star Trek' meets Madea; 'Treasure' still a trove

Perry steers Star Trek's Starfleet Academy, National Treasure 2 doubles up at the box office, Borat's Cohen set to play Abbie Hoffman

Perry goes from Madea to master commander of the Starfleet Academy

According to UGO, Tyler Perry has been cast in his first role in a Hollywood film after his success with Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Why Did I Get Married? – and what a role it is. He will play the small, but pivotal role of the leader of the Starfleet Academy in J.J. Abrams’ reboot of Star Trek. More at UGO.

Double the Treasure for Nic’s National 2

Nicolas Cage’s National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets once again conquered the box office for a second straight week with $35.6 million ($124 million overall), followed by Alvin and the Chipmunks, which moved up to second place with $30 million ($142.3 million overall), finally overtaking Will Smith’s I Am Legend, which came in third with $27.5 million ($194.5 million overall). Charlie Wilson’s War improved in fourth place with $11.7 million ($34.5 million) while the surprise in fifth place was Juno, which expanded to a close to a thousand theaters and reaped $10.3 million ($25.6 million overall). The Christmas Day openers Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep came in sixth and seventh place respectively with $10 million ($26.8 million overall) and $9.2 million ($16.8 million overall), while Denzel Washington’s The Great Debaters opened in limited release in the eleventh spot with $6.3 million ($13.5 million overall). More at Yahoo.

Cohen cast as counterculture’s Abbie Hoffman in Spielberg’s Seven?

Sacha Baron Cohen is said to have signed a $5 million deal to star in Steven Spielberg’s drama The Trial of the Chicago Seven from a script by Aaron Sorkin. Cohen would play Abbie Hoffman, the legendary activist who was tried as a co-conspirator in the case of the 1968 Democratic Convention riots. Considering both Spielberg and Cohen have their dance cards full for a while — Spielberg with Indiana Jones and the Liam Neeson Lincoln biography, Cohen with the Borat followup Bruno — don’t expect the pairing to come immediately. More at The Times Online.