'Star Trek' Release Delayed Until 2009

(FROM VARIETY) — The starship Enterprise will be waiting an additional five months before docking in theaters. On Wednesday, Paramount announced that it is postponing the release of the J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek reboot, from December 2008 to May 2009. Does the change in plans have something to do with script rewrites or budget overruns or other production snafus? According to Variety, the studio arrived at this decision while reshuffling its release schedule now that the strike is over; the walkout caused shooting on several films to be postponed, thus creating gaps in the movie calendar that needed to be filled. Also, apparently, studio insiders claim that the film stands to gross more money in the summer than it would have in the fall.

The movie is the 11th feature-film installment in the Gene Roddenberry-created franchise, and it'll be the first to explore the central characters' early careers. Chris Pine will play Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto is set for Spock. Leonard Nimoy will also return as an older version of the Vulcan he made famous starting in 1966.