Star Trek director J.J. Abrams recently spoke to The Associated Press about what we can expect when the franchise is relaunched on May 8, 2009.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

“It was an opportunity to take what I think has been a maligned world — to sound crass, a franchise — and treat it in a way that made it something that I wanted to see.

“To take the characters, the thoughtfulness, the personalities, the sense of adventure, the idea of humanity working together, the sense of social commentary and innovation, all that stuff. To take it and apply it in a way that felt genuinely thrilling.”

As buzz about the new Star Trek movie continues around the Internet, TV Guide caught up with a pair of Spocks at the Grand Slam XVI Sci Fi Summit in Burbank, California.

Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy will each take on the iconic role, with Quinto receiving the bulk of screen time as a younger version of the Star Trek crew mate. Here are excerpts from the recent interview with both stars:

TV Guide: Zachary, what kind of questions did you have for Leonard?
Zachary Quinto: They came up as things evolved. The process that I went through to play this part was very internal and private, but in terms of what we’re getting into today, I couldn’t ask for a better introduction to the experience and to the fans than to engage in it with him here by my side. It’s literally unbelievable.

TV Guide: Can the Star Trek life experience be described, Leonard?
Leonard Nimoy: Not in a word. It’s been a long, long road for me. I first got involved in 1964, about 44 years ago, and it’s had the ups and downs of a very long relationship. There were times when it was fantastic, and there were times when it was dismal, painful. There have been times of struggle, times of questioning — What are we into and what should we do next?

Should we do anything about this and why don’t we just stop? And then suddenly there’s a revival and it gets exciting again. It’s a long and very, very interesting ride and now I really feel that I can let it go personally and watch it go off in a very good direction.

TV Guide: When J.J. approached you, what were your thoughts about reviving the character?
Nimoy: I was very flattered. I respect [Abrams] a lot. I respect his work. And he was very flattering with his thoughts about Star Trek and my involvement in it and what I might be able to contribute to the next film. We had a couple of exciting and very interesting meetings. He then sent me a script and it was unlike anything I had ever read before, Star Trek or otherwise.

It was just so loaded with exciting ideas on a big scale and action and great characterizations. I said to him, “I think you’ve got the characters wonderfully, but I’d be lying to you if I said I understood everything I just read.” We talked a little about my questions, about what was happening, and I signed on. Obviously I’m very glad I did, because I think it’s going to be a great movie.

Read the complete interview with these actors now.

Our thanks to Screen Rant for the following Star Trek spoilers.

We still don’t know the full name of J.J. Abrams’ remake of this classic franchise, but we do know the following details on the film:

• The film will be rated PG-13.

• The release date was pushed back to summer 2009 because Paramount wants it to be a summer blockbuster.

• The intent was to re-invent the Star Trek franchise; hence, the return to the beginning of the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew

• The Enterprise will be assembled in space, although parts of it will be assembled on Earth.

• Originally, Steven Spielberg read the script and talked to J.J. Abrams about directing it. Abrams mentioned it this pep talk his wife, who helped talk Abrams into the final decision to take on the major project.

As Harold and Kumar prepare to escape from Guantanamo Bay later this month, star John Cho is already feeling the heat of the spotlight for his next role: he portrays Sulu in the upcoming Star Trek remake.

In a recent interview with TV Guide, Cho said: “I’m discovering how much of a basic building block of American citizenship it is. Everyone knows something about Star Trek.”

With all the Trekkies clamoring for the next feature and analyzing every leaked spoiler regarding it, Cho’s trying not to let the legacy of the role stress him out.

“You don’t want to become paralyzed by that,” he said, adding that Sulu “was a pioneer character,” for Asian-American actors and that “was definitely part of why [getting the role] was so important to me. I wanted to participate in it. I wanted to be a part of that legacy.”

Cho takes the chance to showcase himself as an Asian-American actor seriously. He said it was also central to his views on the role as Harold in the original film and now in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, as well.

“In doing Harold,” Cho said, “the biggest burden is worrying about what Asians think…. It is something I always fret over when I take a role. I try to say no to things that I feel are not going to be good for Asians. Comedy is particularly tough.

You want to be able to make fun of race and you don’t want to exclude yourself and your own race from the equation. So you want to make yourself vulnerable, but you don’t want to cross a line, either.”

Anton Yelchin stars as the title character in Charlie Bartlett (opening this weekend) and as Pavel Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek movie.

The young actor recently spoke to MTV about the former. Here are highlights of the interview:

- Chris Pine won’t doing any William Shatner-like thing: “No, no,” Yelchin insisted when MTV asked. “Everyone is being respectful, but at the same time doing their own thing. I think we’d all look a little ridiculous if we copied the old characters.”

- On Tyler Perry’s Enterprise role: “Tyler Perry is in the Federation,” the actoe said. “He’s one of the Federation captain officials, of sorts. I can’t spoil what happens, but he’s an official in the Federation.”

- Star Trek is aiming for both new and old-school fans: “It’s a pretty cool action movie regardless of what you think of Star Trek,” Yelchin said. “It’s a sci-fi action film. Knowing nothing about Star Trek, and going in and reading the script, I was totally fine.

I thought it was great, and really interesting, and a lot of fun to read. Obviously, there are special [in-joke] perks if you’ve been a Star Trek fan for 40 years. But I hope that anyone would go and see this film, knowing that it’s gonna be an action movie.”

Movie fans will have to wait a few extra months to be taken back to the final frontier.

Paramount Pictures has shifted the release date of its upcoming Star Trek movie from Christmas 2008 to May 8, 2009. The J.J. Abrams-directed film is still in production.

Variety reports that the film’s release date shift “was part of a major reshuffling to the studio’s release calendar, as well as DreamWorks’ release calendar. Studio insiders said Star Trek has the potential to gross more in May than in December.”

The publication points out that, as of right now, only two other films are slated for release in May 2009: X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Shutter Island.

Eric Bana will be portraying the character of Nero in the upcoming Star Trek remake from J.J. Abrams. The actor recently talked about the role with Comingsoon.net…

You’ve said that your character Nero will only be making a cameo in the upcoming “Star Trek,” but isn’t he the main villain? What can you say about that?
Bana: Well, I guess he kind of is, but I guess what I mean is that in the context of the roles I usually do, the weight is firmly on other areas, you know what I mean? It’s not one of those roles where you’re carrying the movie, is what I’m saying.

I feel like I’m very much in a supporting role, not one of the main guys. So “cameo” is a way of saying I don’t feel like, as I am in this film or some other films, where you’re clearly carrying a lot of the film. It’s a luxury to not be in that position. It’s nice to be offered a part like that.

Read the full interview with Bana now.

Director J.J. Abrams has cast very young actor Jimmy Bennett as a young James Kirk in Star Trek, which opens in theaters on Christmas Day.

Bennett has appeared in such films as Hostage, The Amityville Horror, Firewall, Poseidon and Evan Almighty. The older Kirk is played by Chris Pine in the film.

The young, new crew venturing boldly where no man has gone before includes Zoe Saldana, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy and Marlene Forte.

Here it is, fans! Check out the long-awaited trailer for the next Star Trek film:

The latest Star Trek movie comes out on Christmas Day.

But you don’t need to wait that long to get a glimpse of the new version of The U.S.S. Enterprise. Take a look now: