It was supposed to be a big movie for fledgling studio The Weinstein Company. Then suddenly, just as fast you can say, “pull the ears off a Gondar,” it was gone. The movie is Fanboys, the Star Wars themed comedy about four guys from the Midwest who try to get their dying friend a preview of Episode I before its release (I thought you guys were my friends!), and it stars Sam Huntington (Superman Returns), Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up) and Kristen Bell of the likely-late “Veronica Mars.” Director Kyle Newman told Star Wars fan site TheForce.net, “We made Fanboys for under five million dollars. And the studio has given us the go-ahead to do the things to it that we couldn’t do with our initial limited schedule and budget. There are one or two hilarious things that I wanted to shoot and they are giving me the funds to do it.” The film is presently slated for a January 18, 2008 release. However, the studio will screen select scenes at this weekend Star Wars mega-event Celebration IV in Los Angeles this weekend, where it will also premiere a special prequel comic book. Another Star Wars themed comedy, 5-25-77, will debut at Celebration, but in its entirety. –Elizabeth Meyer

Treating the injuries of young Iraqi war victims may not be the kind of Mother’s Day gift that most moms had in mind, but the non-profit No More Victims certainly hopes that enough socially conscious people with soft spots will step up and help their cause as a result of a celebrity campaign in effect now. At MothersDayForPeace.com, a short appeal by celebrity moms like Felicity Huffman, Vanessa Williams and Alfre Woodard urges viewers to celebrate the day as it was originally intended — as suggested by poet Julia Ward Howe’s 1870 proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace after the devastating American Civil War. –Elizabeth Meyer

A first-run “Star Trek” may be off the air for the first time in 20 years, but don’t expect the franchise to die the sad death of a white dwarf star. “Alias” and “Lost” creator J.J. Abrams has officially announced that an eleventh, yet-untitled Star Trek movie will launch on Christmas Day 2008.

“Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] wrote an amazing script that embraces and respects the ‘Trek’ canon but charts its own course,” Abrams told The Hollywood Reporter. “Our goal is to make a picture for everyone — lifelong fans and the uninitiated.” The movie is expected to focus on the burgeoning friendship between James T. Kirk and the Vulcan, Mr. Spock, at Starfleet Academy. While it is not cast yet, rumors abound that Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise are in talks to play Kirk, Spock and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, respectively.

In other “Trek” news, a grassroots web movement called BringBackKirk.com aims to undo the mortal foible that befell the beloved Enterprise captain in the seventh Trek movie in 1994.

According to the website, “Star Trek: Generations was supposed to bridge the gap between the two eras of Trek. Instead, it created a chasm from which the franchise still has not recovered to this day. Even the film’s co-writer, Brannon Braga, has stated that if he could do it all over again, he would NOT have killed Kirk.”

Visitors to the site are encouraged to write letters (a handy primer is available), share website banners and distribute flyers trumpeting the site’s cause. A nine-minute fan-produced film, incorporating many incarnations of the “Trek” universe, is hosted there as inspiration, and is a really nifty tribute to Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, which has lived for over 40 years now.•••