Morning folks. Plenty going on in the world. Here are just a few of sci-fi's quirkier stories today.

It's news! Star Trek was a clear success in the USA last weekend, opening to well over $76 million, including previews that began on Thursday night. But despite much praise, not everybody liked the Star Trek movie! Famous US critic Roger Ebert bucked the trend and didn't enjoy it, for instance (he criticises the science and contends that the movie was more about "narrative housekeeping" to re-establish the franchise). The Website At The End Of The Universe rounds up links to some of the other negative buzz.

And speaking of Star Trek, io9 has a little (spoiler-filled) round-up of easter eggs and nods to original Trek, as well as news that William Shatner was at one point intended to be in the movie:

Roberto Orci: Right, we had a scene with Shatner... We wrote it, it was in the script... [Old Spock] gave [Young Spock] a recorded message from Kirk.

It's news! Kenneth Branagh confirmed a rumour that his co-star from detective show Wallander, Tom Hiddleston, is in the running to play Thor in the Marvel movie he's directing. "Tom Hiddleston is a great actor," says Branagh. "He, amongst a number of others, has been part of the group we've spoken to, and all that's still a work in progress." He was speaking to IGN.

It's news! Over at Total Film you can see a first trailer for Gamer, about a future where humans control other people in massively multiplayer gaming environments. It's directed by Crank’s Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine, and stars Gerard Butler as a prisoner who signs up to play in order to win his release. It also stars Logan Lerman and Michael C Hall.

It's news! Lastly, for now, there's also a new trailer for Land Of The Lost. The film's due on 31 July. Enjoy:

See you tomorrow! And don’t forget to follow our Twitter feed for regular breaking stories and feedback from the SFX team.