star trek

In last night's still air, one could hear a faint but constant wail not unlike a tired banshee. Those were Stephen King fanatics mourning the passing of J.J. Abrams' film adaption of 'The Dark Tower.' Early this summer, it seemed Abrams and his partner, Damon Lindelof, were still developing the project. However, the 'Star Trek' director just told MTV News, "'The 'Dark Tower' thing is tricky. It's such an important piece of writing. The truth is that Damon and I are not looking at that right now."

It's looking improbable -- though not impossible -- that J.J. Abrams will guide Tom Cruise's international superspy Ethan Hunt on another 'Mission: Impossible.' Abrams tells MTV News that the fourth installment of the hugely successful franchise will probably be directed by someone else.

"My guess is, given other things, I will not be directing the movie," the man responsible for creating such TV hits as 'Lost,' 'Alias' and 'Fringe' told MTV.

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' -- which boasted some of the summer's most divided reviews AND grossing a whopping $400+ million in the U.S. -- has arrived on DVD and Blu-Ray steeped in all as much explosive, chaotic, metal-crunching, Michael Bay-tastic glory as any fan could have hoped.

"I expected it to be like that," writer Robert Orci said last week at a promotional event in Santa Monica for 'Transformers,' referring to the movie's split reaction. "Sequels are easy targets. It was under the pressure of the writers' strike, which makes us targets. It was longer, which is a debate. It was bigger, louder and longer than the other one."

Note to actors the world over: If you don't land the role you wanted in a blockbuster movie, there's always the DVD.

William Shatner did not make the final cut of director J.J. Abrams mega-hit 'Star Trek' when it was released in theaters earlier this year. But the actor -- who played Capt. Kirk before Chris Pine was born -- will be featured on the DVD and Blu-Ray editions, which hit stores Nov. 17.

Shatner is part of one of the DVD extras, called 'The Shatner Conundrum,' in which Abrams discusses why he decided not to include the actor in the reboot.

After taking on 'Star Trek''s James T. Kirk last May, Chris Pine is working his way up to playing another icon, novelist Tom Clancy's heroic Jack Ryan.

According to Variety, Pine is in early negotiations with Paramount to reboot a series that kicked off in 1990, with Alec Baldwin playing the CIA operative in 'The Hunt for Red October.'

"With Chris in this role, we've taken our first step in creating a reboot that lives up to the successful lineage of the franchise," said Adam Goodman, Paramount Film Group president, in a prepared statement.

Chris Pine is in talks to go from Kirk to counterfeiting.

According to Variety, the 'Star Trek' star and director D.J. Caruso ('Eagle Eye,' 'Disturbia') are in negotiations with Paramount to team up for an adaptation of the nonfiction book 'The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter.'

Folks, please try to hold back those tears ... but the summer movie season is officially over. That means that for quite some time to come there will be a distinct lack of $200 million-budgeted movies about Megan Fox's chest, er, gargantuan robots or about a boy wizard grappling with a messianic calling (and puberty) or about an iron-clawed mutant suffering from memory loss. And while for some moviegoers, any tears shed would be of joy over this fact, of one thing there is no doubt: Summer 2009 was epic at the box office. Get the scoop on this summer's B.O. winners ... and losers.

'Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day' will get a U.S. theatrical release, 'Big Momma's House 3' is in the works, Guy Ritchie has been tapped to direct the comics-based bounty-hunter flick 'Lobo,' and more of today's top movie headlines.

'Star Trek' blasts off in theaters.

Following the testosterone-fueled $87 million haul of Hugh Jackman's 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' last weekend, the summer action movie express continues to pick up steam this week with the release of J.J. Abrams' long-awaited 'Star Trek' relaunch.

The film has garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics in all walks of media. And we here at Moviefone have to agree: If liking (nay, loving) this movie makes us "Trekkies" or 'Trekkers" or whatever the kids are calling themselves these days, we'll gladly don the mantel.

Read our take on 'Star Trek' and more of our editors' picks for the top movies at the multiplexes.

Your favorite sci-fi flicks battled for intergalactic glory.

Intergalactic worlds collided when we polled readers on the best and worst in the wide spectrum of sci-fi movies. 'Star Wars' clashed with 'Star Trek,' Ripley went head to head with Sarah Connor, and in the top category for worst, 'Battlefield Earth' contended with 'Apes.'

And, well, after more than 330,000 votes, there's just no messing with the Force that is 'Star Wars.' Darth Vader easily out-eviled his diabolic counterparts, Yoda proved the most beloved E.T. the worlds have ever seen, and Episodes 'IV' and 'V' conquered the competition at every turn. Click through to see the results of our Ultimate Sci-Fi Poll.