Nazneen Contractor Joins Star Trek 2

EW reports that Nazneen Contractor has joined Star Trek 2. The Indian/Canadian actress is best known for her role in the series 24. They say that Nazneen will play the wife of Noel Clarke's (Doctor Who) character. She joins other newcomers to the rebooted franchise that include Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse, Sherlock Holmes), Alice Eve and Peter Weller (Robocop). Original cast members Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana and Karl Urban are expected to return for the sequel which comes out May 17th 2003.

New Prometheus Image Featuring Noomi Repace

Benedict Cumberbatch Nabs Villain Role In Star Trek 2

Deadline and Variety reports that J.J. Abrams and Paramount has found their villain for Star Trek 2. British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has landed the role which had previously been offered to Benicio Del Toro. Cumberbatch is best known for the excellent BBC series Sherlock Holmes. He recently became a big name after starring in Danny Boyle's play based on Frankenstein along with small roles in Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, The Hobbit and War Horse. The untitled Star Trek sequel will come out on May 17th 2013.

Noel Clarke Joins Star Trek 2

Variety reports that British actor Noel Clarke has joined the cast of Star Trek 2. Noel has become a staple in the British film industry as of late starring in numerous projects he won a rising star BAFTA back in 2009. He's best known for the Kidulthood and the sequel Adulthood. American audiences might best recognize him from Centurion and the Doctor Who series. Other new additions to the cast include Alice Eve and Peter Weller (Robocop, Dexter, Naked Lunch).

Screen Grabs From Prometheus Trailer Reveal Derelict Ship And Space Jockey

New Images From Prometheus Trailer Preview

Teaser For The New Prometheus Trailer

Khan Is The Villain Of Star Trek 2, Benicio Exits

Vulture reports that Benicio Del Toro will not play the villain in Star Trek 2. They say the two parties couldn't agree on the money side of things. LatinoReview reported last week that the villain Benicio was going to play was Khan. Not long after J.J. Abrams himself told HitFix the scoop was "not true". However, Vulture now confirms previous reports that Khan will be the movie's villain. The question now will be who will play Khan?

Robocop Actor Peter Weller Joins Star Trek 2

Deadline reports that actor Peter Weller best known for his role as Alex Murphy in the cult classic Robocop has joined the cast of Star Trek 2. Weller has fallen off the map in recent years but took a rather decent role in the last season of Dexter. His role of course like every new to the project is unknown but his involvement has to be more exciting than just a cameo. I wouldn't be shocked to see Weller end up in the villain role to be honest. Alice Eve and Benicio Del Toro are also expected to join the film as well.

Is Benicio Del Toro Actually Playing Khan In Star Trek 2?

Back in 2009 Trekkies gathered to The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas for a special screening of Wrath of Khan. They instead were treated with an exclusive screening of the Star Trek reboot. From that moment it's been rumored that Khan would be the villain of Star Trek 2. When Benicio Del Toro's name came up as a possible candidate for the villain role. It started the fuel again since both Benicio and Ricardo Montalbán who originated the role are Latin actors. Now LatinoReview reports with insider information that Benicio will indeed play Khan Noonien Singh.

The genetically altered human was marooned by Kirk in the television series only to enact revenge in Wrath of Khan. Which is considered to be the best film of the franchise. There are so many angles they could go with Khan since the timeline has been altered. He could very well be a hero who becomes a villain or is straight up villain at the start. There has also been speculation of the Klingons being in the film. In the last film J.J. ultimately cut the scenes from the Klingon prison which showed guards not looking the Klingons we know. I assume it was cut because the redesign didn't work and they knew they'd have to end up going back to them eventually.

Alice Eve Lands Female Lead In Star Trek 2

While we're still waiting to find out if Benicio Del Toro will indeed be the villain in the Star Trek sequel. Along with what/who the role is. There is finally confirmation of a new cast member from ShowBlitz. British actress Alice Eve has nabbed a lead female role in Star Trek 2 which is yet to be named. However, the character is reported to be brand new and not from previous incarnations. Nothing is really known about the sequel even it's title hasn't been named. Yet the release date is set for May 17th 2013.

Eve is slowly becoming a bigger player in the blockbuster world being contentions for leads in X-Men First Class and Captain America. The former she dropped out as Emma Frost which was filled terribly by January Jones. There had been talk that she was still in talks with Marvel Studios for a future role. Alice previously worked with Simon Pegg in The Big Nothing who plays Scotty so she very well could be a new crew member or a love interest for Kirk.

New Prometheus Images, First Good Look At The Cast

If Prometheus Performs Well There Could Be Sequels

When the Alien Prequel was originally announced it was pitched as a two part project. Later on when Damon Lindelof signed on for rewrites the film's connection to the franchise was almost severed. Leaving a few bits of franchise DNA in the newly titled Prometheus which seemed it would focus more on the origins of the company and the space jockey. Along with being very android focused perhaps telling the story from the prospective of David (Fassbender). There is now word from HollywoodReporter that if Prometheus does well at the box office which is very likely Fox will pursue more installments.

His directing wishes could be altered by how well his sci-fi epic Prometheus, which stars Charlize Theron and Noomi Rapace and opens June 8, 2012, performs at the box office. Insiders at Fox say the studio is already exploring sequel options"


It was stated that this film would be set thirty years before the events of Alien so there is a little wiggle room for more movies in the Alien universe. It's unknown how many if any crew members will come out of the film alive to reprise their roles. I believe it's box office success might end up coming down to it's rating while an R rating will appease fans of the franchise in the minds of the studio. A PG-13 rating is domestic gold and helps sell the movie overseas. However, all four of the original films were rated R and have been nothing but profitable for Fox. The Matrix trilogy being one the biggest successful R rated franchise it might be hard to get those kind of numbers.

Ridley also was expecting to make a bunch of sequels for Robin Hood before the Universal Pictures project went over budget and did very poorly at the box office. The film was an origin story rebooting the legend of Robin Hood which was setting up sequels along the way. Scott might be itching for franchise security since he's never really done one besides creating the Alien franchise. Only to hand it off to directors like James Cameron and newcomer David Fincher which cemented both of their careers. When he visited the set of Avatar it was said he felt the gauntlet was thrown down by Cameron. It's unknown if Ridley will return to the director's chair as he has many projects in development which includes a new Blade Runner film currently in the script phase.

My take is that I believe this world is rich enough to explore a lot of different avenues and I believe there are many stories that could be tapped in new films. Maybe developing the origins/exploring off-world colonies and even the united systems military. I feel the space marines are an important aspect of the franchise since they're eventually an arm of the company. It could be interesting to see Fox focus a movie on them establishing the bug-stompers. It was hinted in Aliens they've been up against similar hostile organisms before. While xenomorphs are tempting I wouldn't mind seeing other creatures or threats. Of course a completely new take could be just as exciting.


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SPOILERS: Ridley Scott Talks Prometheus

I've used the heading SPOILERS to point out this whole article could ruin Prometheus if you read it so you've been warned. Ridley Scott while speaking with The Wallstreet Journal's blog Speakeasy he gave a small tidbits of details on Prometheus. Confirming that the Alien DNA is in the film stating "The last eight minutes of the “Prometheus” story evolve into “a pretty good DNA of the ‘Alien’ one".

This news leads me to believe there is a possiblity that Ridley and Fox could be considering a sequel which had been in the original plan. While setting up the alien world with Prometheus the next installment very well could end up being the Alien prequel that was originally intended. When the Alien prequel was originally announced there had been plans for two movies that would explain where the eggs, ship and Space Jockey came from. It's unknown how much of Prometheus will actually explain if anything of the mythology/origin of the aliens. I wouldn't be shocked if the film ended with a cliff hanger leading into the second film, if that plan still exists.

I had my doubts how they could make one origin story into two movies but establishing the human world, androids, the company's motives and colonies would be the first step, the second explaining the origins of the aliens. This of course is all speculation but it's going to be a massive treat for Alien fans like myself it does turn out this way. There has also been talk that Prometheus very well could be told from the prospective of David (Fassbender), one of the androids in the film.

Who Could Benicio Del Toro Be Playing In Star Trek 2?

We now know that J.J. Abrams wants Benicio Del Toro to play the unknown villain in the untitled Star Trek sequel. There has been speculation of who exactly Benicio could be playing. Here is a bit of a run down of the options. Considering we're now in the original series timeline and time travel won't be a plot point. The show and original films are fair game to pull villain ideas from.

KLINGONS: In this current timeline the Klingons are enemies of the Federation. Over the years their design has had an evolution. While in the original series they only had funny looking eyebrows and bronze face paint. They've developed a ridged forehead with sharped teeth. The guards in the Klingon prison holding Nero wore masks but that scene ultimately got cut out of the film. Giving the impression that they weren't happy with the designs or wanted to save them for the sequels. Benicio doesn't shy away from movie makeup playing wolf boy in one of the Pee Wee Herman films and the amazing makeup from Joe Johnston's The Wolfman. The latter makeup work from Rick Baker won him an Oscar.

KHAN: He's been considered the best villain in the film franchise with The Wrath of Khan the most well received installment. Khan Noonien Singh was one of the only cannon villains in the movies and has been rumored since the second installment was mentioned in scripting phases. The Spanish angle might work here as the legendary Ricardo Montalbán played Khan and Del Toro's accent would work in his favor.

CARDASSIANS, ANDORIANS, BORG OR NEW VILLAIN: There is a slew of other enemies that would be kicking around this timeline but never bumped into Kirk and the crew in the movies. Perhaps pulling villain species from other series could happen or even creating a completely new villain/threat.

Benicio Del Toro Might Play The Villain In Star Trek 2

Variety reports that Benicio Del Toro has met with director J.J. Abrams about taking the villainous role in Star Trek 2. Filming is expected to start in early 2012 with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Salanda, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin and Simon Pegg returning. The villain is unknown but there have been rumblings that the Klingons could be the group of villains the U.S.S. Enterprise have to go up against. Nero (Bana) and his crew were prisoners of Klingons in the first movie but their escape was latter cut from the film. In that Trek timeline Klingons are still enemies of the Federation.

Benicio Del Toro isn't new to big films landing one of his first roles in License To Kill in which he played a Bond villain. Along with solid performances in movies like The Usual Suspects, Snatch, Traffic, 21 Grams, Sin City, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Che and the upcoming Oliver Stone film Savages where he also plays a villain.

Ridley Scott Talks New Blade Runner Film

While we are still desperately waiting on the first trailer for Ridley Scott's Prometheus which is expected to have DNA/connections to the Alien franchise. There is development on another iconic film that Ridley will be revisiting. Alcon Entertainment (Insomnia) nabbed the film rights to Blade Runner and were pursuing Scott to direct. Ridley officially joined the untitled Blade Runner film as it's director and producer. It's expected that Warner Bros. who made the original and have worked with Alcon in the past will distribute.

Ridley spoke briefly to Speakeasy (via Playlist) about the film. Scott is considering this project a sequel even though Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) will likely not be in it. He seems to have found a writer and gives the impression development is further along than we assumed.

 "liable to be a sequel.....I think I’m close to finding a writer that might be able to help me deliver. We’re quite a long way in, actually."

"Scott says the new “Blade Runner” project is moving ahead “not with the past cast, of course.” No Deckard? “No, not really,” he says."

Some possible writers could include Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek, Star Trek 2) who recently worked with Scott on Prometheus adding massive re-writes to the original script. Another candidate could include Travis Wright (Eagle Eye) who was confirmed by SlashFilm as writing a Blade Runner sequel before Alcon/Ridley ever got involved. It will be interesting who ends up writing because we have no idea what angle they're aiming for. There has been talk of continuing the original dectective noir aspect also taking things into outer space focusing the replicant uprisings on off-world colonies.

Prometheus' Noomi Rapace Reveals Elizabeth Shaw's Backstory

While talking to MovieWeb, Noomi Rapace revealed some non-spoiler details about her character in Prometheus. Elizabeth Shaw is expected to be the central character which may or may not be similar to Ripley. Rapace gives some insight into the backstory of Shaw that ultimately gives us more depth than any previous character in the Alien franchise.

"I play Elizabeth Shaw, researcher and archaeologist. She's British but was raised in Africa because her father was a missionary. From him she learned to believe in God, and she has a strong inner self. She is the most complete person I have ever played. She has an inner light. She's very stubborn and determined. She lost her parents when she was a child, so she's been alone from a young age. But she's very intelligent. I know that when one has to survive alone from an early age, one becomes strong. But also fragile, because the hurt child within her hasn't been able to evolve in a natural way. You get easily hurt emotionally. She's full of hope, a dreamer, a little naive. Halfway through the movie a lot of things happen and she turns into a fighter. Another part of her comes to life."

Screenwriter Damon Lindelof recently confirmed that Vickers (Charlize Theron) would be in charge of the company that is funding the mission which is a change up from the familiar company stooge. He also stated David (Michael Fassbender) is indeed an android. During Comic-Con Ridley Scott confirmed the film would have at least two androids in the movie if not more, David now being one of them. There has been talk that Prometheus could be told from the point of view of androids.

Ben Foster Joins Prometheus, Patrick Wilson & Guy Pearce Confirmed

JoBlo reported back in July that Ben Foster (Messenger, Mechanic, Pandorum) had joined Ridley Scott's Prometheus. Along with that older news, rumored additions Guy Pearce (Memento) and Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) have been confirmed for the film.

Damon Lindelof Tapped To Write Sci-Fi Project For Disney

Damon Lindelof (Lost, Prometheus, Star Trek) is becoming a go to writer for science fiction films. Deadline now reports he's been hired buy Disney write an unknown science fiction film for the studio. The project with the working title 1952 has zero details but I have a few ideas. While it very well could be an original concept there are two big sci-fi projects currently in development at Disney.

First there has been a Tomorrowland film being planned since 2008 based on the park attraction. 1952 could be referring to the year that Walt Disney Imagineering was created, the group that created many of the attractions at the theme parks. SlashFilm had word that Dwayne Johnson was attached to the film with Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (Hangover) handling the script. This seems unlikely as Disney is shelling out seven figures to land Lindelof, a little expensive for just a rewrite.

Another science fiction project that has been developing at Disney is Alien Legion. The comic book series was nabbed by the studio not too long ago. Lindelof isn't a stranger to adapting comic books since contributed to the script for Jon Faverau's Cowboys & Aliens. The premise is similar to Green Lantern meets the dreggs of Star Wars. Yet that project also has writers Derek Haas and Michael Brandt (Wanted, A-Team) attached.