Movie Nation

The democratic nature of the J.J. Abrams version of “Star Trek” means that every character has plenty of nice moments, not just the leads.

And Zoe Saldana brings pathos, flintiness and sexual heat to her turn as Lt. Uhura, lover of Spock and a serious upgrade to the bridge of the Enterprise any time she brings those killer eyes, etc., there.

Questions for Zoe, who may be splitting her time between two franchises — “Avatar: The Sequel” supposedly has a place for her — and “Trek”? And “Guardians of the Galaxy” has franchise potential as well. Look at all the IMDB credits. She’s a busy one.

Comment below, and yes, I do use your questions. Thanks for the help.

Variety says that Robert DeNiro has agreed to play a cop in Stephen Gaghan’s “Candy Store,” which also stars Omar Sy and Jason Clarke.

Covert agent discovers his overseas nemesis has set up shop in his New York back yard. He enlists a cop to help achieve justice.

Cherubic funnyman Dan Fogelman (“Take Me Home Tonight”) will make his writing/directing debut with “Imagine,” which is about an aging rocker (Al Pacino, maybe) who discovers a letter he one got from John Lennon and changes his life accordingly. Annette Bening and Bobby Canavale are already on board, according to THR.

That’s what Variety is predicting. It’s on a billion screens. It’s in 3D. Heck, “Oblivion” did $38. “Iron Man” should do a big multiple of that, right?

Box Office Mojo prognosticates that those 4200+ screens and 3D (and in some cases, IMAX) screens will add up to a staggering $177. Wowza.

It’s already earned well north of $300 million overseas. This thing is a money-printing machine.

Box Office Guru figures $165 is what we’ll hear from Paramount/Marvel on Sunday night.

“The Avengers” blew up, pulling in over $200 million last year on its opening weekend.

It’s a better movie, better reviewed. But “Iron Man”, the established brand, could challenge that.

That will suck up most of the “Pain & Gain” money, although some folks will go to that with “Iron Man 3” selling out, here and there. “Oblivion” will fade away quickly.

It’s Friday AM, time to give the kids over at sports-talk 740 am The Game a break from chatting about Jason Collins, gay athletes and those who don’t have a lot of tolerance for gay anything.

We’ll talk “Iron Man 3,” the finale to a trilogy.

We’ll brush on “Disconnect,” a pretty good drama about life in our inter-connected/disconnected privacy deprived times.

“The Sapphires” opens here. Remember, I talked that up quite a bit when it hit some cities in March.

And Enzian’s aptly-named Wednesday Night “Pitcher Show,” out of doors, with drink specials, is “Happy Gilmore.”

That’s at 745 AM on 740 AM, or listen live here.

Deadline is reporting that Stephen King has optioned “Joyland”, his latest, to “The Help” director Tate Taylor.

Like “The Help,” “Joyland” is a period piece, as are a number of King books. It will be published next month.

The plot — from deadline – “Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of a college student who moonlights as a carnival worker. There, he confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will forever change his life.”

It was the Medieval sword and arrows and mounted knights fight that was preceded by Henry V’s “St. Crispin’s Day” speech. At least in Shakespeare.

Michael Mann would like to do something a tad more historical, and almost certainly less poetic. And he’s commissioned a writer to take a stab at rewriting a script based on Bernard Cornwell’s historical novel about an English archer who “comes of age” during the epic battle.

Deadline says that Stuart Hazeldine has landed that assignment.

Agincourt took place in 1415, a fight turned by the prowess and superior range of English archery.