This is, of course, just a rumor, but it’s fun to think what kind of jokes we could all come up with should Tom Cruise (pictured, left), a self-professed fan of the Star Trek franchise, and of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock character in particular (huh, wonder why that is?), actually joins the case in a brief, uncredited cameo, as he’s wont to do in other movies. MSNBC reports that Cruise, a friend of Trek 11 director J.J. Abrams, recently visited the Trek set in hopes of meeting Nimoy, but that he won’t be doing a cameo. Or at least, that’s what they want us to think.

With J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek 11 reboot now shooting, you just knew that spy pictures were going to start flying out fast and furious, and so they have. The latest back of spy pics from the shoot arrived at AICN, and shows what Trek 11’s shuttles were going to look like, as well as some interior shots. Man, they sure look bulky, huh? But then again, I guess that’s the point — remember, this is the early days of Trek we’re talking about here, so it won’t be the sleek look of “Next Generation” or “Voyager”.

Apparently J.J. Abrams’ version of Starfleet Academy is very bright red and dull grey, and oh yeah, the girls still wear those fetching mini-skirts. Wow, the future is rad, man! Anyhoo. AICN recently got sent some spy pictures (talk about spy! it’s like espionage or something judging from the way these pictures were shot!) from the set of Star Trek 11 that shows off Starfleet Academy. You know, where Kirt, Spock, et al went through their Trekking education. I guess. Check them out.

True story: when I was in school, George Takei once came to our class and talked about his experiences living in an internment camp in California during World War II, and it was there that he fell in love with movies and wanted to be an actor. No, really. Anyways, George Takei said he recently “had lunch” with J.J. Abrams, which brings up the question: is he scheduled for a cameo in Trek 11, too?

If you’re one of the legion of Trekkies waiting with bated breath for December to see J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the Trek franchise with Star Trek 11, then you’ll just have to wait five extra months, because Paramount has decided that Trek 11 would make a better Summer flick than a Christmas flick, and has changed the film’s release date from December 2008 to May 2009.

This is strange news. Everyone has expected that Eric Bana’s Romulan villain, Nero, would have a big role in J.J. Abrams’ Trek 11, otherwise why would they cast such a big name for such a small role? But according to Bana himself, his role is only “a cameo”. But, he adds, “It’s a good cameo!” Is he messing with us?

Zoe Saldana is a gorgeous woman, and the idea that she’ll be playing a younger version of Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Trek 11 is pretty good stuff. Via an interview with Black Film, Saldana, who will also be seen in James Cameron’s sci-fi epic “Avatar” in 2009, talks about her role on Trek 11.

Not to be confused with “young adult Kirk”, who will be played by Chris Pine, word from Coming Soon is that J.J. Abrams has cast 11-year old Jimmy Bennett to play an even younger version of James T. Kirk in Trek 11. I guess this means we’ll be delving deeper into Kirk’s past than originally thought. What’s next, a fetus Kirk?

Entertainment Weekly recently caught up with unknown actor Mister Chris Pine, who will be blowing up pretty soon once J.J. Abrams’ Trek 11 arrives on the big screen. Pine is at Sundance to talk about some movie no one will see (it’s a Sundance movie, come on), but managed some Trek questions, too.

Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long before Paramount released better quality versions of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek 11 reboot teaser trailer out into the Internet. A number of sites are hosting them now, including Yahoo! Movies. It’s still the same teaser trailer, though, showing the Enterprise under construction.