Rumour alert, in fact major rumour alert. According to rumours in the British papers, a possible replacement for the part of Scotty in Star Trek XI has been found, and this time it's a real Scottish actor.

If you didn't realise before, James Doohan who played Scotty was in fact Canadian. Anyway, back to the rumour. The story comes from the Sunday Mail and has been picked up by UK IGN, now not only does the story talk about the Matt Damon as Kirk rumour, but it also repeatedly referers to the rumoured young Scotty actor by a misspelled name.

With these two facts, and also that the script for the film hasn't been finished as well as the story originating from the Sunday Mail, I think it's safe to say that this is a fun rumour and is nothing more.

The rumour is that, salt shovel ready, James McAvoy (James McAlvoy as he is referred to in the story) is a favourite for the role. McAvoy was most recently seen fighting toe to toe with the amazing Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (Filmstalker review)

"[The studio] thinks [McAlvoy] could form a brilliant double act with Matt [Damon, rumored to play Kirk]," said the Sunday Mail's source. "James's star is on the rise after The Last King of Scotland. He's Scottish and has box-office appeal, so he fulfills both criteria."

I think this is total conjecture, and a Scottish paper hyping up a Scottish actor, perhaps pushing the idea to the filmmakers that a Scottish actor should follow up the role. Well if there's going to be a Scotty then I agree, grab a Scots bloke for the role, but right now this is the biggest rumour I've heard and ranks alongside the Damon-Affleck for Kirk-Spock gossip.