Henry Cavill and Benedict Cumberbatch Are Stars To Watch In 2013 (FORBES)

Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes Staff

Another star we’re keeping an eye on this year is Benedict Cumberbatch. The British actor already has legions of fans from his work on Sherlock, an update of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective series. This year he’ll co-star in one of the most anticipated movies of 2013: Star Trek Into Darkness. There’s been a lot of speculation that the character Cumberbatch is playing is Khan, the bad guy from the second Star Trek movie in 1982. But the star has said his character’s name is John Harrison.


Fans will also be able to hear (but not see) Cumberbatch in the upcoming sequel to The Hobbit. Cumberbatch voices the dragon, Smaug.


Speaking of superheroes, Henry Cavill also makes our list of Stars to Watch. The young actor, best known for his work in The Immortals, is the latest to take on the role of Superman. Brandon Routh tried in 2006 with Superman Returns but the film didn’t live up to expectations, earning $390 million at the box office on a budget of $270 million. Warner Bros. is hoping to see better results with Man of Steel, which hits theaters this summer. You can check out the trailer here. With his square good deeds, Superman has become a  tough sell in the age of tortured superheroes like Batman. But if the film is a hit, Cavill could be on his way to becoming the next Christian Bale.


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVu3gS7iJu4

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READ MORE:http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2013/01/07/nicholas-hoult-and-benedict-cumberbatch-are-stars-to-watch-in-2013/

SPOILERS - JJ Abrams Reveals Star Trek Into Darkness Plot & Theme Details + Talks Lens Flares In 3D December 22, 2012 by Anthony Pascale (TREK MOVIE)

Abrams: John Harrison is average guy in Starfleet with ‘secret agenda’

A couple weeks ago JJ Abrams, Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Pine traveled to Tokyo to promote Star Trek Into Darkness to the Asian press. Traditionally Star Trek has not performed well in non-English speaking countries and Paramount is hoping to make improvements with Into Darkness. For example, in Japan Abrams’ Star Trek only hit 4th place in its opening weekend and ended up ranked 85th for the year with just $5.8M (compare that to Terminator: Salvation which made $34M and ranked 17th).

So in a newly released video interview with GyaO! (unfortunately not available for streaming outside of Japan) you can see how JJ Abrams takes a different approach than his usual hard-to-get super-secret style. Abrams explained the film in simple terms and emphasized how Japanese film-goers didn’t need to have seen his 2009 Star Trek to enjoy Into Darkness. And in so doing he ended up providing some new details…

JJ Abrams: So this movie doesn’t require you have seen the first movie. The characters are a group of people who have recently come together and find themselves up against this incredibly terrifying force. His name is John Harrison and he is sort of an average – that is what makes him so scary – he is just an average guy who works in an organization called Starfleet, and he turns against the group because he has got this back-story and this kind of amazing secret agenda. After two very violent attacks, one in London and one in the US, our characters have to go after this guy and apprehend him. And it is a far more complicated and difficult thing then they ever anticipated. "Into Darkness" is very much about how intense it gets and really what they are up against.

READ MORE: http://trekmovie.com/2012/12/22/jj-abrams-talks-star-trek-into-darkness-plot-themes-lens-flares-in-3d/?_tmc=IJVPv4p1H4Lr8ClOTk15Aaxa46JFwyw27XmFipS7qB0

Benedict Cumberbatch and Alice Eve Talk STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (TREKNEWS)

Last week, at a special press screening of the first 9-minutes of STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS in London, Trek newcomers Alice Eve and Benedict Cumberbatch discussed the film and their respective characters (Carol Marcus and John Harrison) with IGN UK.

READ MORE: http://www.treknews.net/2012/12/16/benedict-cumberbatch-alice-eve-talk-star-trek-into-darkness/