With Star Trek Into Darkness now playing around the world, our partners at Omelete recently sat down with Chris Pine.  During the interview, he talked about his favorite thing about the franchise and what it means to him, where he thinks Star Trek should go next, the challenges of shooting the sequel, the friendship between Kirk and Spock relative to the relationships with his fellow actors, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Star Trek Into Darkness  also stars Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, and Alice Eve.  The film is now playing in IMAX 3D and in 2D and 3D.

As someone whose only firsthand experience with the Star Trek franchise comes by virtue of J.J. Abrams‘ two Trek films, I know I’m in over my head when the topic presents itself. When you mention Trek, you’re referencing (either directly or indirectly) a rich legacy filled with peaks and valleys, genre-defining characters and moments, and an international fanbase that rivals any of pop-culture’s most enduring titles. And yet here I am, with two films under my belt (both of which I enjoyed), talking about it. Obviously, I have nothing at stake with regards to Star Trek Into Darkness. Whether you like it or dislike it is of no consequence to me. My only aim today is to extend a humble word of caution to the Trek fans who have years of equity built-up in their beloved franchise: be careful not to dismiss or begrudge it solely because it’s trying to appeal to the largest possible audience. Abrams’ Trek films aren’t above reproach, but they also aren’t void of redeeming qualities. Try to at least acknowledge some of those qualities when tearing into them or risk coming off as someone whose real issue is that a bunch of people now enjoy this thing that you once considered yourself unique for liking.

All preachiness aside, this week’s Top 5 includes several interviews from Star Trek Into Darkness, rumors surrounding Christopher Nolan being approached to direct James Bond 24, the first trailers for Marvel’s new ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a new trailer for Guillermo Del Toro‘s Pacific Rim, and new photos and a video from the set of director Jose Padilha‘s RoboCop remake. If I haven’t lost you yet, a brief recap and link to each of the above can be found after the jump.

Star Trek is not iconography.  There are plenty of iconic moments, inside jokes, winks, nods, and more, but it all stems from an original story starring fleshed-out characters who answered the call of duty and the call of adventure in equal and enthusiastic measure.  Director J.J. Abrams only sees iconography, but it was enough to get him through 2009′s reboot.  The story was barely patched together, still filled with holes, and wrapped in coincidences, but Abrams’ talent as a director managed to bring the story and characters to life in a way that felt fresh and exciting.  Much like his take on Captain Kirk, it was slapdash, occasionally clever, frantic, and charming.  Unfortunately, a flashy smile and big set pieces can’t save Abrams a second time as his follow-up, Star Trek Into Darkness, amplifies the shortcomings of his original effort, and removes the joy as the picture stumbles around looking for character arcs, themes, and a compelling, well-constructed plot.  But its greatest embarrassment is in trying to steal classic Star Trek moments without having a clue as to why those moments had meaning.

Here’s your latest casting news out of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

• Joel Edgerton (Warrior) will join Johnny Depp in the Barry Levinson crime thriller Black Mass about Boston kingpin Whitey Bulger.
• Chris Pine (Star Trek), Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men) have joined the Tobey Maguire production Z for Zacharia, directed by Craig Zobel (Compliance).

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

Here’s today’s latest casting news:

• Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) are in discussions to join Into the Woods, the Rob Marshall-adaptation of the Broadway musical that stars Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep.
• Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) has joined Stephen Gaghan’s The Candy Store, which stars Robert De Niro, Jason Clake and Omar Sy.
• RZA (The Man with the Iron Fists) and Catalina Denis (Sleepless Night) will join Paul Walker in Brick Mansions, the Camille Delamarre-directed remake of Luc Besson’s District B13.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

There are those who boldly go where none have gone before on movie screens and those who do it in real life; you can chat with both during a Google+ Hangout with the cast and crew of Star Trek Into Darkness, plus real astronauts from NASA.  Director J.J. Abrams, writer Damon Lindelof and stars Chris Pine, Alice Eve and John Cho will join Chris Cassidy, who is currently on the International Space Station, and Earth-bound astronauts Michael Fincke and Kjell Lindgren to talk Star Trek fiction and NASA fact.  More importantly, this is your chance to ask questions of both sets of space adventurers!  (Just don’t ask what happens when you wring out a washcloth in zero gravity.  It’s been done.)  Hit the jump for all the details.

Star Trek Into Darkness also stars Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana,Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and Bruce Greenwood and opens in IMAX 3D tomorrow, and in both 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 16th.

A few casting stories to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• Chris Pine will be reuniting with his Smokin Aces director Joe Carnahan on the low-budget comedic thriller Stretch opposite Patrick Wilson.
• Homeland star and Broadway veteran Mandy Patinkin has been set in the role of Zach Braff’s father in Braff’s partially Kickstarter-funded directorial effort Wish I Was Here.
• Lust, Caution stars Wei Tang and Leehom Wang have boarded Michael Mann’s untitled cyber thriller starring Chris Hemsworth.

Hit the jump for more on the aforementioned projects.

We’re just days away from the US release of J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, and to mark the occasion Paramount has released a batch of high-resolution images from the film.  By now, you probably already know whether you’ll be seeking this one out or not, but if you’re a fan of Trek and just can’t wait another 24 hours before seeing the film, this image gallery should appease you for now.  We’ve seen some of these images before, but a few of them are new and all of them are in glorious high-resolution.  If you missed Steve’s spoiler-free video blog review of the film, click here.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Alice Eve, John Cho, and Bruce Greenwood.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D tomorrow, and in both 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 16th.

With Star Trek Into Darkness opening soon around the world, our partners at Omelete recently sat down with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.  During the interview, they talked about what kind of personal challenges did the sequel bring to them both as actors and to their characters, do they now feel beloved by the Trek community, what’s the sequel about, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Star Trek Into Darkness also stars Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, and Alice Eve.  The film opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D on May 17th.

Paramount Pictures has released six clips from director J.J. Abrams’ upcoming sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.  We’ve seen these clips individually before, but now they’re all together in one convenient place.  If you missed any of our recent coverage, be sure to watch Steve’s spoiler-free video blog review of the film, the 3D trailer, three new TV spots that unveil an unmasked Klingon, and the final poster for the film.

Hit the jump to watch all the clips.  The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Alice Eve, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 17th.

Paramount Pictures has released a new 3D trailer for director J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.  If you happen to have a pair of red/blue 3D glasses handy, then you’re in luck.  If not, well I hope you like slightly blurry images.  This trailer is simply the latest theatrical trailer only refashioned in kinda-3D.  I say kinda-3D because this is far from the quality 3D you’d see in a theater.  Nevertheless, if you happen to have a pair of 3D glasses nearby, go nuts.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Alice Eve, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 17th.

Paramount Pictures has released yet another new clip from Star Trek Into Darkness.  All of the previous clips have focused on the Enterprise crew in some sort of peril, and this clip is no different as we see Chris Pine’s Kirk and Simon Pegg’s Scotty running into a bit of trouble aboard the Enterprise.  As yesterday’s new poster hinted, Into Darkness will find the film’s characters facing down quite a lot of dangerous and deadly situations, but I’m looking forward to seeing how J.J. Abrams infuses humor into the story as well.

Hit the jump to watch the new clip.  The film stars  Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Alice Eve, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 17th.

The Star Trek Into Darkness marketing blitz rolls on with three more TV spots for the upcoming sequel.  A couple of the TV spots hammer home the same plot points we’ve seen before: Kirk (Chris Pine) needs to be responsible, the villain “John Harrison” (Benedict Cumberbatch) is really sinister, etc.  But the third spot is an interesting evaluation of Uhura (Zoe Saldana) by Harrison.  We saw this kind of evaluation before with Spock (Zachary Quinto), but the evaluation of Uhura sneaks in a couple frames of an unmasked Klingon.  I’m not exactly sure why they needed masks in the first place, but as far as the design goes, it’s fairly subdued.  However, in the TV series, the Klingons (from TNG onwards, which is when they got their distinctive foreheads) have different craniums.  They have ridges, but the ridges vary from Klingon to Klingon, so we don’t know if that will be the case with Abrams’ film or if he’s gone for a uniform design.

Hit the jump to check out the TV spots and first image of an unmasked Klingon.  The film also stars Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, and Alice Eve.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 3D and 2D on May 17th.

A new clip for the highly-anticipated sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, from sci-fi extraordinaire director J.J. Abrams, has been released.  The clip features three of the main stars of the film – Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto’s Spock and Zoe Saldana’s Uhura – as they become the target of a ship pursuit and race through treacherous paths in an attempt to escape the firing blasts of their enemy.  Compared to the first clip, this one is saturated with fast-paced thrills, showcasing what’s likely to be one of the movie’s most fascinating action sequences.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  The film also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Alive Eve, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, and Karl Urban.  Star Trek Into Darkness is slated for a May 15th IMAX 3D release and a 2D and 3D release on May 17th.

Some new U.K. character posters for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming sequel Star Trek Into Darkness have made their way online.  We previously saw a few domestic character posters for Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and Benedict Cumberbatch, but in this grouping we see Alice Eve, John Cho, and Karl Urban get their own one-sheets alongside new posters for the aforementioned actors.  The lack of Anton Yelchin’s Chekov in most of the marketing, though, is starting to become glaring, and I’m beginning to wonder about his character’s fate.  Also, where’s Scotty’s poster?  Surely Simon Pegg deserves a one-sheet of his own, especially as part of the U.K.’s marketing materials.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in the U.K. on May 9th, in IMAX 3D in the U.S. on May 15th, and in traditional U.S. theaters on May 17th.