Welcome to the geek world, Tyler Perry.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the rumor that Tyler Perry will head Starfleet Academy in J.J. Abrams‘ highly anticipated Star Trek XI, which began filming in November.

The rumor came last week from a SPOILER-filled anonymous report posted by UGO.com.

While THR confirms Perry’s casting in the Trek prequel as head of Starfleet Academy, where a young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and a young Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) are cadets, there’s no other mention about the role or the rumored plot details.

Eric Bana, Winona Ryder, and Leonard Nimoy are also part of the Star Trek XI cast, along with Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Karl Urban, Chris Hemsworth, Zoe Saldana, and Clifton Collins Jr.

Paramount’s Star Trek XI hits theaters Christmas Day 2008.