The Playlist

Watch: Trailer For J.J. Abrams/Alfonso Cuaron Series 'Believe' Arrives, Ang Lee Bails On 'Tyrant' Pilot

By Jason McDonald
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May 21, 2013 4:45 PM
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0 Comments

News

As far as two people to create a TV series together, it'd be hard to do much better than J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron. The former is, obviously, the man behind hits like "Alias," "Lost" and "Revolution," while the latter is the acclaimed filmmaker behind "Children Of Men," who'll make his long-awaited return this October with "Gravity." The delayed post-production on the latter gave Cuaron the time to cook up "Believe" with Abrams, and direct a pilot, NBC picked up the show, and now a trailer has arrived, via /Film.

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Why 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Suggests J.J. Abrams Needs To Leave His Mystery Box Alone For A While

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 21, 2013 2:34 PM
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13 Comments

Features

In 2007, J.J Abrams gave a TED talk about the mystery box; principally, a Tannen's Mystery Box he was bought by his grandfather from a magic store when he was a child. Abrams, in a typically articulate, engaging and funny address, talked about how the box had come to represent, for him, infinite possibility, and became a kind of manifesto for much of his work up to that point. And in the years since (quite deliberately, in a lot of way; it served as the front cover of an issue of Wired he edited, for one), it's become a recurring motif in his work, and often referred to in reviews or commentary of his work. And with "Star Trek Into Darkness," it's started to become a bit of an albatross.

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Damon Lindelof Suggests He Could Be Involved In A Future 'Star Wars' Feature; Gives More Hints About 'Tomorrowland'

By Drew Taylor
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May 20, 2013 4:05 PM
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10 Comments

News

Nerds, start your hate-tweets: Damon Lindelof, one of the most celebrated and reviled writers in the geek universe, suggests in an interview with Grantland where he doesn't acknowledge or even try to explain the dozens of gaping plot holes and leaps in logic in "Star Trek Into Darkness" (which he co-wrote), that he will probably be involved in one of Disney's upcoming "Star Wars" projects (the crop that will begin with J.J. Abrams' 2015 film). In basements all across the country, angry blog posts are already being written. Lindelof also gave some more details about "Tomorrowland," his secretive Disney project with Brad Bird, which are pretty exciting for any fan of sci-fi.

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The Best & Worst Of 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

By The Playlist Staff
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May 20, 2013 3:37 PM
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60 Comments

Features

This past Friday saw the release of one of the more hotly-anticipated blockbusters of a packed summer; J.J Abrams' "Star Trek Into Darkness." The film was already on the radars of many, thanks to its well-liked 2009 predecessor, but sci-fi geeks everywhere became doubly keen to see when it was announced earlier in the year that Abrams would be helming "Star Wars Episode VII."

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Watch: J.J. Abrams Gets Notes On 'Star Wars Episode VII' From Billy Dee Williams & William Shatner

By Joe Cunningham
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May 17, 2013 1:20 PM
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1 Comment

News

The Star Wars prequels weren’t exactly well-received by fans of the franchise, with many irked by a variety of plot points in those first three episodes. Well Jimmy Kimmel has a great idea for how J.J. Abrams can avoid that problem this time around – take ideas directly from the fans. Now we’d suggest that if he’s going to take fan ideas, Abrams should go look no further than one Patton Oswalt. But sadly with Patton not around, Kimmel instead pointed J.J. in the direction of his studio audience.

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The Lost, Forgotten & Unmade Projects Of J.J. Abrams

By The Playlist Staff
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May 16, 2013 3:10 PM
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5 Comments

Features

It's easy enough to think of J.J Abrams as some kind of overnight success. After all, it's only seven years since his first film as director, "Mission Impossible III," and "Star Trek Into Darkness," which opens on Friday, marks only his fourth film to date. And yet, even when he made that first film, he was already a brand name -- the man behind two bona-fide TV pop culture phenomena in "Alias" and "Lost," and that's only become more true since; his films have all taken at least $200 million worldwide, he's birthed several other successful TV shows, and he's taking over the Holy Grail of nerddom, "Star Wars," with 2015's "Episode VII."

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The 10 Most Promising Network Shows For Fall 2013

By Drew Taylor
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May 16, 2013 1:01 PM
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8 Comments

Features

This week concluded the yearly "up-fronts," where advertisers and affiliates convene in New York City so that the various networks can trot out their exciting new fall products. It brings an end to "pilot season," in which initial episodes are furiously produced and then handily judged, and kicks off the excitement for the following fall. (Even though, as we're becoming increasingly aware, the traditional notions of when shows are supposed to air and how long they're supposed to be are blurring considerably.) Out of all of the new shows – dozens and dozens of hours of freshly scripted content – we have chosen the ten shows that we find the most promising; five hour-long dramas and five sitcoms. Don't change that dial.

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5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

By Drew Taylor
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May 14, 2013 12:57 PM
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8 Comments

Star Trek Into Darkness, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto

Features

This week, one of the most hotly anticipated (and deliberately mysterious) movies of the summer movie season boldly goes into theaters nationwide. "Star Trek Into Darkness" is director J.J. Abrams' follow-up to the ridiculously entertaining 2009 "Star Trek" reboot, which introduced audiences to a younger, sexier Enterprise crew and turned the occasionally lifeless original series into a zippy space opera. The first film was the best kind of surprise – Abrams only had a single feature under his belt (the somewhat disappointing "Mission: Impossible III") and had yet to solidify his magic-loving geek-cred persona into an identifiable, Steven Spielberg-like brand. "Star Trek Into Darkness" is less of an unknown quantity in that respect, but Abrams and his confederates have tried, tirelessly, to keep the movie shrouded in mystery, offering all sorts of red herrings and deliberate attempts at obscuring plot details from being delivered prematurely. Still, there are some things we can tell you about this new 'Star Trek' experience. And so, without further ado, we will deliver five things you might not know about "Star Trek Into Darkness." Because in space, no one will hear you nerd out.

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Review: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Often Thrills, But Undone By An Underwritten Villain & Thin Story

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 3, 2013 5:44 PM
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25 Comments

Reviews

Cast your mind back four years or so, to stardate early May 2009, and remember a time when J.J Abrams wasn't yet the anointed savior of Hollywood. He had an ever-growing fanbase, and had already been behind at least one bona-fide small screen pop culture phenomenon. But his influence on the big-screen up to that point only extended to a few screenwriting credits, mostly forgotten, a producing credit on disposable sleeper hit "Cloverfield," and directing "Mission: Impossible III," an enjoyable, but somewhat interchangeable entry to the Tom Cruise spy franchise.

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10 Things J.J. Abrams Needs To Do With 'Star Wars: Episode VII' To Make It Great

By Oliver Lyttelton
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January 25, 2013 3:09 PM
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24 Comments

Features

So the question that's been dominating the movie world for the past few months has finally been answered. After lots of rumors and speculation, with Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Jon Favreau, Guillermo Del Toro, Matthew Vaughn and Colin Trevorrow among the many names linked to the project, firm news has emerged that J.J. Abrams, creator of TV shows "Felicity," "Lost," "Alias" and "Fringe," among others, and director of blockbusters "Mission Impossible III," "Star Trek," "Super 8" and the upcoming "Star Trek Into Darkness," has been hired to direct "Star Wars Episode VII," the continuation of George Lucas' classic sci-fi saga.

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