Since some fans decided to pull together a few hundred of their closest friends to celebrate "Star Trek" and got thousands instead, the convention has been almost synonymous with science-fiction fandom. For many years, they were a place where people could not only meet some of their favorite actors and writers, but also where they could locate special memorabilia, autographs, and even other fans to create social networks. The 21st century has changed a lot of that, with many of the items once found only at conventions are now discovered frequently online. At the same time, the current economic conditions have added several more blows to conventions as organizers struggle to pay top celebrities to attend, and hope that ticket sales will follow. "This economy is kicking our butts," Terri ...

If Tim Kring is ready to make some changes to the format of "Heroes" to bring viewers back, he better hope there's a show to do it with. The NBC series earned a 4.6 rating/7 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research, another record in "Heroes'" smallest audience book. With that rating, "Heroes" beat only "Prison Break" on Fox and "One Tree Hill" on The CW, and was murdered by "Dancing With the Stars" and "Samantha Who" on ABC, and CBS' comedy block. That audience is 2 percent off the previous series low "Heroes" earned last week, and is nearly 25 percent off its season premiere audience, which already was considered low compared to its second season. The only highlight for "Heroes" is that it's still NBC's most-watched program on Mondays. Its ...

As James T. Kirk says in the new Star Trek, "Buckle up!" Trekmovie.com has the details about on the first two waves of Star Trek film toys and figures from Playmates Toys, coming out in 2009. And even if you are not into collecting, there is some movie news for spoiler fans as well. 

Lionsgate has released a new short trailer for The Spirit, director Frank Miller's upcoming film adaptation of Will Eisner's classic comic. The movie opens Christmas Day.

Amanda Peet, who plays a character in Roland Emmerich's upcoming apocalyptic film 2012, revealed to SCI FI Wire a bit of the top-secret film's plot structure. "So there are two stories, so basically, I don't know what I'm supposed to give away, but obviously the world is sort of in peril," Peet said

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have dropped out as the directors of Jonah Hex, the DC Comics property that is expected to star Josh Brolin as a partly disfigured gunslinger and bounty hunter, Variety reported.

Fox's remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still is poised to invade movie theaters Dec. 12, and the hope is that it will be a big hit, like the original movie was when it premiered in 1951. The classic movie's success surprised everyone, especially star Patricia Neal, who played the young mom, Helen: She has said she couldn't keep a straight face when trying to recite some of the hokey lines.

J.J. Abrams and the cast of Star Trek unspooled about 20 minutes of footage from the upcoming reboot movie, and SCI FI Wire watched with a critical eye on Nov. 19 at the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood. The verdict: Mixed, but generally good. More on this in a bit.