Peter Weller Joins Star Trek Sequel

While fandom holds its collective breath on "Is he or isn't he Khan?" question on Benicio del Toro, there remain other roles to be cast for the Star Trek sequel.

Variety reports J.J. Abrams has recruited Peter Weller (genre favorite for Robocop, of course, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8^th Dimension and in a case of small-world syndrome, as I call it, guest-starred on the last iteration of the Trek brand-name before Team J.J. made it cool the prequel series Enterprise – cue speculation he's reprising that role) to join fellow newbies del Toro and Alice Eve.

Way to lure back good will with us nerds after that Khan bullshit, Abrams.

Funny thing is Weller would fit perfectly in the role of the sequel's secondary villain, from the plot details we'd heard, as a figure who helps supply the Klingons with advanced technology (read: warp-drive) to fuck the Federation. But everything's up in the air (although I trust our sources immensely) after that Khan development Friday night.

Star Trek Sequel: The Search For Khan

When it got out General Zod was the heavy in The Man of Steel, Zack Snyder issued strong denials saying, "It's just wrong" and "The Internet has no idea what’s going on." Remind me again, folks, who's that Kryptonian warmonger Michael Shannon is playing opposite Henry Cavill?

When stuff like this gets out, you can't believe the filmmakers at face value when they run to the microphone assuring everyone there is no fire. Not that they want to be assholes lying to your face and playing you for a schmuck. But nobody wants these things getting out before everything is finalized taking away from their chance of making a big splash announcement themselves on their own terms.

So when Latino Review reported the villain role of Benicio del Toro's in the highly-anticipated sequel to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek is Khan earlier this evening, guess what happened next? Abrams himself publicly denied it to Hit Fix stating with two simple words, "Not true."

I want to believe Abrams. From a pure ego stand-point, no Khan backs the info we received. More importantly, I want to believe Abrams knows how Goddamn lazy it is to throw that character into the equation this soon after the 2009 reboot brought the franchise back from the dead and, for the first time in its history, made it cool to like Star Trek.

The best commentary I've seen, so far, came from Scott Mendelson:

"New STAR TREK 2 news would be like Sony/MGM following up CASINO ROYALE (rebooted, restarted 007 franchise) by loosely remaking GOLDFINGER."

Yeah, I'd like to believe Abrams...but sadly this looks more like he's covering his ass.

IMAX Listings For The Dark Knight Rises Prologue

Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures would like to remind you good readers the prologue to The Dark Knight Rises (the Christopher Nolan-helmed, Christian Bale cape-and-cowl wearing capper to their Batman trilogy – you may have heard about it if you've ever been anywhere near any movie-news site, including this one, since 2008) will play in front of IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol starting on December 16.

So to be subtle, here are all the locations in the US and Canada via the press release they sent out. While you read, I'll pretend like I don't give a damn. But I'm secretly sulking local IMAX down in New Orleans wasn't listed:

"Austin, TX - IMAX Theater Austin - Austin
Boston, MA - Jordan’s IMAX - Natick
Boston, MA - IMAX 3D Theatre in Reading - Reading
Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Theatre Chinook 16 - Calgary
Chantilly, VA/Washington, DC - Udvar-Hazy Center IMAX - Chantilly
Chicago, IL - Navy Pier IMAX Theatre - Chicago
Des Moines, IA - SCI IMAX Dome Theater - Des Moines
Detroit, MI - Henry Ford IMAX - Dearborn
Edmonton, AB - Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton - Edmonton
Harrisburg, PA - Whitaker Center for Science & the Arts - Harrisburg
Houston, TX - Houston Marq*e Stadium 22 + IMAX - Houston
Indianapolis - White River IMAX - Indianapolis
Los Angeles, CA - Irvine Spectrum 20 + IMAX - Irvine
Los Angeles, CA - RAVE 18 + IMAX - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA - Ontario Palace Stadium 22 + IMAX - Ontario
Los Angeles, CA - Citywalk Stadium 19 with IMAX - Universal City
Madison, WI - Star 18 Fitchburg with IMAX - Fitchburg
Miami, FL - AutoNation IMAX - Fort Lauderdale
Minneapolis, MN - Great Clips IMAX - Apple Valley
Montreal, QC - Cinema Banque Scotia Montreal - Montreal
Nashville,TN - Opry Mills Stadium 20 + IMAX - Nashville
New York, NY - Lincoln Square 13 with IMAX - New York
New York, NY - Palisades IMAX - West Nyack
Omaha, NE - Star Cinema 16 with IMAX - Council Bluffs
Orlando, FL - Pointe Orlando Stadium 20 + IMAX - Orlando
Ottawa, ON - Silvercity Gloucester + IMAX - Gloucester
Palm Springs - Desert IMAX Theatre - Cathedral City
Philadelphia, PA - IMAX & the Tropicana - Atlantic City
Philadelphia, PA - Tuttleman IMAX–Franklin Institute - Philadelphia
Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Mills 25 with IMAX - Tempe
Providence, RI - Providence Place 16 with IMAX - Providence
Quebec City, QC - IMAX Le Theatre At Quebec - Quebec City
Sacramento, CA - Esquire IMAX - Sacramento
San Antonio, TX - IMAX at RiverCenter - San Antonio
San Francisco, CA - Metreon 16 with IMAX & ETX - San Francisco
Seattle, WA - Boeing IMAX–Pacific Science Center - Seattle
Tampa, FL - Museum of Science and Industry - Tampa
Toronto, ON - Coliseum 12 Mississauga + IMAX - Mississauga
Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Theatre Toronto + IMAX - Toronto
Toronto, ON - Colossus 18 Woodbridge + IMAX - Woodbridge-Vaughan
Vancouver, BC - Colossus Langley + IMAX - Langley
Vancouver, BC - Silvercity Riverport 18 + IMAX – Richmond"

For the Under 1% Who Demanded It - Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters First Look

Coming off their geniusly half-assed, hit-whoring "Best Movie Prequels of All-Time" list that included Batman Begins, even though that was a reboot and in their first sentence confessed, "Yeah...it's not really a prequel," Entertainment Weekly has your first look at Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters, starring Jeremy Renner (as he begins ascending the over-exposure mountain once conquered by Jude Law circa 2004) and Gemma Arterton.

The revisionist yarn that answers the question we all wondered as small children, "What if Hansel and Gretel were like, totally fucked up after that whole 'gingerbread house' episode and turned into Dog the Bounty Hunter?"

The trailer, they say, drops next Thursday. Until said footage premieres and either shuts me up or adds fuel to my fire, it's all snarky-bastard from yours truly on the subject of this one.

See Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln Eat Lunch!

If you've been dying to see how Daniel Day-Lewis would look as President Abraham Lincoln in the Steven Spielberg-directed biopic Lincoln due out next Christmas, then you have Michael Phillips (via The Film Stage) to thank for this pimp snap-shot taken of the two-time Oscar winner this afternoon.

I realize this is far from an official production still or even taken from the set (It's simply Lewis eating his lunch) but it's very cool to know how he'll appear in character.

Star Trek Sequel Adds Much Needed Sex Appeal

As expected, Benicio del Toro (whose deal isn't finalized) won't be the only new addition to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek sequel.

Variety reports Alice Eve, the British actress from She's Out of My League, has secured a role in the still-untitled Trek follow-up.

Details on her role remain elusive (because what's the point of a mystery box if they can't keep stuff crammed in it?) besides her being a brand-new character. So those of you wanting to see a rebooted Carol Marcus (Why would you in the first place?) will be disappointed.

Disney Premiered John Carter Trailer This Morning for Your Mom to Watch

Corporate synergy at work, baby!

Good Morning America airs on ABC, which is owned by Disney, who produced John Carter, which happened to premiere its new trailer during the broadcast this morning.

Bleeding Cool has provided the footage. To enjoy ("Enjoy" a term I'll use loosely since I thought this second Carter trailer leaned heavily on the "This looks stupid" side, and you know, it's bad-ass because they play rock music in the background!) it however you'll have to sit through star Taylor Kitsch, a good actor not so sure about his leading man potential though, and host Robin Roberts doing their best to sell this to middle America.

If you're like me and wasn't second on trailer #2, helmer Andrew Stanton tweeted the complete trailer will premiere tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a show that also happens to air on ABC. They're not being subtle with the corporate back scratching, are they?

Bullshit or Not? – Lizard Concept Art Leaks

Before you start sharpening your knives, remember how everyone freaked out when we first saw Mystique in the X-Men teaser trailer.

"What?! But...but...she's not wearing a white dress like the comics! That's stupid and this movie is fucked!"

Ultimately, we were won over to the concept. So much so when we got our first glimpse of Jennifer Lawrence taking over the role in X-Men: First Class we were so used to her in that nude, reptilian look it threw us off to see her wearing clothes for the first time onscreen. And once again, it won us over.

Those examples set aside; something feels off about this "leaked" concept art of the Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man, courtesy of Spider-Media. In their favor, wearing the white lab-coat would look stupid so that was rightly jettisoned.

But I'm not going to write off the look of the creature, and the reboot as a whole, based solely on art-work that may or may not be real.

Fox Likes the Sound of Matthew Vaughn Directing X-Men: First Class Sequel

Fox supreme-being Tom Rothman tells Coming Soon they want Matthew Vaughn back directing more X-Men, preferably the First Class sequel, the one they assigned Simon Kinberg to write weeks back.

His comments though lack a definite stance, surprising since he runs the studio, and more on the "We really, really hope it happens" kind of answer. Thus those of you leaping for joy under the guise this means another X-Men movie where the mutties say "Groovy" at the end of a sentence is a done deal best take a dose of Valium.

What could fuel this being a reality however comes from this interesting tip via Movie Hole. The Wolverine won't lens anytime next year, at least until "some problems on the Japan side" are resolved. Since Fox currently has squat for their summer 2013 schedule outside of a Rise of the Apes sequel* everyone is assuming will drop by then, this would definitely help the cause of X-Men: First Class – The Kennedy Assassination.

If this gets made and with Vaughn at the helm, expect to see January Jones nowhere in sight. Of course, you guys already figured that out.

*Worth noting, for the record, Rupert Wyatt is also lumped into the same category as Vaughn but there's considerably more evidence on the monkeys side of returning. Namely, that expensive new deal for Andy Serkis (Who had absolutely zero sequel options in his Rise of the Apes contract) and Wyatt having to turn down Londongrad, the drama about ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko at Warner Brothers, because of his pre-existing commitment to Apes 2: Keep on Rising.

Arguably the Coolest Men In Black 3 Thing You'll Ever See

Via Collider, comes the first piece of official marketing material for Men in Black 3.

Fitting given how simpatico the first Men in Black is with the 1990s, this teaser poster is done in the style of those old Magic Eye books. At least you won't have to strain your eyes to see Tommy Lee Jones.