Right now, fans across the world identify Captain James T. Kirk with actor William Shatner. That’s likely to change when the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek premieres this coming May with newcomer Chris Pine in Kirk’s captain’s chair. Collider got the chance to speak with Pine at the recent Hollywood Awards, where the actor initially shrugged off the epic scope of his upcoming film.

"[I’m in] a small, small movie called Star Twars," jokes Pine. "It’s a mix between Star Trek and Star Wars."

Pine acknowledges that he’s stepping into some hefty shoes, and knows that some fans are already "giving the middle finger" to the project. However, the endorsement of Kevin Smith was a huge morale booster for the young actor. When he found out about Smith’s glowing review of both the film and Pine’s performance, Pine was through the roof.

"[I sent him an e-mail and said], ‘Thanks dude. I couldn’t have asked for a better thumbs up from someone [of Smith’s caliber]," Pine says. "This far away from the release date, to have someone say I did a good job, especially with the potential naysayers out there, it was a nice ego boost for a Wednesday."

Unless Kevin Smith can create millions of clones, Pine and the rest of the Trek team will need to appeal to a much wider audience. In that regard, the soon-to-be Kirk isn’t worried about the detractors.

"It’ll be what it’ll be," says Pine. "People will like [our movie] or they won’t.  I’m really proud of it. From what I’ve seen I think we did a great job. We just have to leave the rest [up to] the peanut gallery."

For now, after months of fighting Romulans and avoiding Spock’s death grip, Pine’s working on a project that’s just a tad more small scale.
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First it was Rob Roy.  Then William Wallace. Now, it’s William the Conqueror’s turn in a new film to be written for Killer Films and GC Corp. by screenwriters Brian Edgar and Derek Wallbank.

Wallbank was a film editor in the 1970s with Hamlet and Devices and Desires to his credit while Edgar is a newcomer to film. Their script, according to Variety, will tell of “the rise of the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy to the English crown in 1066 following the Battle of Hastings.”

Killer has previously produced films including Boys Don’t Cry, Far From Heaven and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Producer John Wells funds the outfit and will receive an Executive Producer credit. GC Corp. is a venture capital fund that specializes in entertainment-related portfolios and is capitalized at $100 million.

"This is a big-budget studio movie. For many years we’ve been interested in a bigger canvas. It was just a matter of finding the right project," Killer Films’ Pamela Koffler told the trade.
 

The Weinstein Company has, according to Slash Film, moved Fanboys from November to open February 6, 2009, another delay. The studio  picked up Fanboy for release some time back and the utterly charming tale of friends trying to get their dying friend to see The Phantom Menace has been hung up ever since.

Clearly they have little faith in the film given it will now open opposite Push, Pink Panther 2, and the Jennifer Aniston’s He’s Just Not That Into You.

When they picked up the movie, it was essentially complete and ready for release but instead, the Weinsteins wanted to tinker with it and the creators and fans were horrified at the notion that the charm might be replaced with something different. They decided to reedit the film their way then test screen both versions before deciding which one to release.
Weinstein decided the cancer subplot was too downbeat and put up $2 million to have four scenes created, under producer Shauna Robertson (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and director Steve Brill (Drillbit Taylor) that changed the story. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the non-cancer version of the film narrowly edged out the original version but well within the margin of error. After much public hemming and hawing, the studio opted to retain the original cut.

Fanboys was conceived in 2003 by Kevin Mann, who produced the love letter fellow geeks with Kyle Newman. The script was from Ernie Cline and it made the Blacklist, the top unproduced scripts circulating in Hollywood. It stars Jay Baruchel (Just Buried), Kristen Bell (Heroes), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), and Dan Fogler (Good Luck Chuck) and has been eagerly anticipated since footage was shown at various conventions. Release dates of August 17, 2007 and January 18, 2008 came and went without a movie.

Both edited versions are expected to be available on the eventual DVD.
 

Jubei Kibagami’s strapping on the ninja gear and heading for theaters around the globe.

Variety reports that the acclaimed anime film Ninja Scroll will be adapted by Warner Bros. as a live action adventure. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way will produce the picture alongside Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Mike Ireland. The film will be written by Alex Tse, who worked as a writer on Zack Snyder’s Watchmen.

Set in feudal Japan, Ninja Scroll follows ninja for hire Jubei Kibgagami as he battles longtime rival Himuro Gemma. Gemma, who is seemingly invincible, dispatches a legion of dangerous villains to dispatch of Jubei, including the stone golem Tessai and the blind assassin Utsutsu Mujuro. Jubei is joined by the female ninja Kagero, the lone survivor of a team of killed Koga Ninja.

Ninja Scroll is one of the most beloved anime features to cross from Japan to American shores. It joins an ever growing list of anime-to-live action adaptations, including the in production Dragonball starring Justin Chatwin and Chow Yun Fat. James Cameron has stated for years that he plans to adapt Battle Angel Alita, which is rumored to be his next project after Avatar. M. Night Shyamalan has similar plans for a live-action trilogy of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was announced in February 2007 and has a tentative release date of July 2, 2010. There’s been little movement on the project thus far.

Perhaps most closely related to Ninja Scroll is Appian Way’s involvement in the adaptation of Akira. Although Leonardo DiCaprio is not attached to star in Ninja Scroll, it’s possible that he’ll play a role in Akira, which is rumored to be set in America instead of Asia. The move is somewhat worrisome given the way Dragonball looks to be turning out with American actors in Japanese roles, but the prospect of Leo as the telepathic terror Tetsuo is awesome enough for us.

Following the news of Crispin Glover’s casting as the Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland comes word that Christopher Lee and Eleanor Tomlinson are joining the cast, while Danny Elfman confirms his involvement on the musical end of things.

SlashFilm reports on Lee’s casting, stating that the actor’s role in the film has yet to be made known. Speculation exists that he’ll either play The Caterpillar, King of Hearts or The White Knight. Lee is no stranger to fantasy films, as he’s played Sith Lord Count Dooku in Star Wars and Saruman the White in Lord of the Rings. He’s also a familiar face in the Burton circuit, having had roles in Sleepy Hallow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride and deleted scenes of Sweeney Todd.

Sixteen-year-old Eleanor Tomlinson has snagged the all original role of Fiona Chataway. Fiona, created specifically for Burton’s vision, is a spiteful young peer of Alice’s who appears in the film before Alice journeys down the rabbit hole.

Danny Elfman, meanwhile, <a href=”

set to contribute to the score for Wonderland. Elfman is a staple in the Burton universe, composing music for Batman, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, among others.