Set your phasers on stumped

To not-so-boldly go where William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have gone before?

That's the question for Star Trek screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who have signed to pen the sequel, due summer 2011.

At issue: do they create a fresh plot with never-before-seen characters and scenarios or -- because young Kirk and Spock are now part of an alternate timeline where the past has been altered -- do they introduce 2.0 versions of such popular villains as the Klingons or Khan? Orci recognizes each approach has its own merits.

Rebooting familiar elements appeals instantly to fans and attracts the attention of "the media-sphere," as he calls it.

Meaning that if you cast, say, Javier Bardem as the new Khan opposite Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, you've automatically excited fans and attracted the attention of the moviegoing public.

"But on the other hand," he adds, "who doesn't love an original story?"

That they're even having this discussion is, they know, is no small feat. But the J. J. Abramsdirected Trek has rejuvenated a franchise once believed dead, grossing more than $245 million so far in North America. (Compared to the $49 million 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis earned.)

"We'd hear that people thought Star Trek was too cold, that women didn't like it," Orci says. "But if you look at that period in the 1980s -- from Wrath of Khan to the Voyage Home -- those movies were very warm; they were about a family."

Presidential approval If Orci and Kurtzman get

their way, Denzel Washington will play the U. S. President in The 28th Amendment, a thriller they've been working on for more than a decade. What's the hold-up?

"It's tough to find an actor who wants to play the president when Barack Obama is already like a movie star," Kurtzman says. (Oh for the days of George W. Bush, when real-life commanders-in-chief didn't even require a command of the English language.)


Most recently, Tom Cruise briefly considered starring as a newly-elected president who uncovers a sinister political conspiracy, but ultimately dropped out. Two-time Oscarwinner Washington, though, remains their first choice.

"We wrote it 10 years ago with Denzel Washington in mind, actually -- and he's still perfect for it," Orci says.

Best trailer ever? If you're old enough to

remember when the first Alien was hatched in 1979, you probably remember the famous tagline: "In space, no one can hear you scream."

The folks at IFC.com certainly do. The memorable preview for Ridley Scott's horror classic tops their recent list of the best trailers ever made.

Others in their top 10? Psycho, Cloverfield, Mission: Impossible and The Shining.

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