Corona | Coming Attractions

On the eve of the home video release of Star Trek comes the photographic evidence some of us have been waiting for: the proof that the favorite small blue droid from Star Wars is indeed in Gene Roddenberry's universe. This snapshot shows Artoo is visible for a fleeting moment as the Enterprise dodges the debris of Federation ships in orbit of Vulcan. A blink-and-you-miss-it moment to be sure, but one that you can confirm for yourself when you pick-up your Star Trek DVD or Blu-ray.

Star Trek is being re-released for a limited run on 100 IMAX theaters this coming Friday. The move is unusual since the film has been out for nearly four months but Paramount lost out on having the sci-fi adventure play out a typical four-week run in IMAX venues last May due to the Night at the Museum sequel grabbing the jumbo-sized screens two weeks after the Trek's May 8 opening.

Finally an assessment of the missing scenes from Orci/Kurtzman's Star Trek screenplay has been published. TNMC has a breakdown of what moments from the script either didn't get filmed or wound up on the cutting room floor, a few of which were: Spock's birth on Vulcan; what was supposed to happen to Nero and the Nerada immediately after attacking the U.S.S. Kelvin; how Kirk hacked the Kobayashi Maru test; an alternate meeting between young Spock and Spock Prime; and a surprise cameo from another cast member of the original Star Trek. Find out the details.

On Friday, May 29 as the film entered its fourth weekend in release Star Trek crossed the highly coveted $200 million dollar barrier. It should close the weekend with $209 million as its present North American gross. Factor in another $92 million from international markets and the film has earned its owners $301 million dollars at the box office so far.

Conceptual artist James Clyne has posted more than a dozen pieces of art that he made for the production of Star Trek. Included in the assortment are interior and exterior designs for Nero's mining vessel, the Narada (seen on the left), the bridge of the U.S.S. Kelvin, the orbital spacedrop from Vulcan's atmosphere to the Romulan mining platform and more goodness. Click on Star Trek here on Clyne's project listings and start flipping through the design work.

If you never considered how similar the storylines are between the newly rebooted Star Trek first film and the first Star Wars movie, watch this video and your mind may be opened to the possibility.

The FX Network outbid all other bidders and won the television broadcast rights to the new Star Trek. According to Variety's sources, FX could pay out up to $24 million to Paramount if the film holds on track and earns $200 million domestic. The network will begin airing the movie in about 30 months or just in time for holiday 2011 viewing.

The final box office figures for last weekend are in and Star Trek surpassed the original estimates. The movie earned $75,204,289 over Friday to Sunday, $3m more than what was first estimated. Add the $4m from the Thursday screenings and Star Trek's current domestic cumulative stands at $79.2 million dollars.

The estimates for the complete weekend are now in and Star Trek is looking to gross $76.5 million dollars domestically in its first three days of release. [Full story]

While it's still too early to know definite numbers, preliminary ticket sales estimates for Star Trek's first day of release indicate that the movie made $31 million on Friday (including the $7m from Thursday showings.) [Full story]

Early returns from theaters indicate that late Thursday/Friday midnight special screenings of Star Trek took in $7 million dollars. [Full story]

Paramount Pictures sent us this exclusive image from Star Trek showing Chris Pine holding up the roof of a shuttlecraft from the inside. Wait a second! Alright, so it's not as sexy as showing the Enterprise in battle. We asked for a photo of Kirk making out with a Horta but got this.

In the wake of the swine flu crisis that has hit Mexico, Paramount has decided to delay the opening of Star Trek in the beleaguered country. Paramount's decision to put off the May 8 opening follows in the footsteps of 20th Century Fox which also delayed the opening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in Mexico due to the epidemic.

Mexico has been hit hard by the swine flu outbreak. It's not just the theaters that are closed; professional sporting events in stadiums that can hold tens of thousands are now played without spectators and no one knows when it's going to get better. And Fox and Paramount aren't the only studios stuck in the same boat; Sony Pictures may also delay the Mexican opening of Angels & Demons.

This week's Newsweek features a cover story about the new Star Trek film and the magazine's website has the feature article. The Newsweek angle is that Star Trek has suddenly become cool.

"It's the Spock plot strands that give the new Trek its best shot at once again commanding the zeitgeist," writes reporter Steve Daly. "Spock's cool, analytical nature feels more fascinating and topical than ever now that we've put a sort of Vulcan in the White House. All through the election campaign, columnists compared President Obama's unflappably logical demeanor and prominent ears with Mr. Spock's. But as Spock's complicated racial backstory is spun out in detail in the new Trek—right back into childhood—the Obama parallels keep deepening."

The dossier section on the official Star Trek movie website has been updated with three new files: Spock, Starfleet Academy and the United Federation of Planets. In addition to having three new photos to look at (including this one of a Starfleet space station used for the Federation dossier sheet), there is also more factoids that well-versed fans of Trek will appreciate. For instance, on the listing for the Federation you have confirmation that the organization was founded by humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites and that current membership "includes 120 planets and 700 colonies."