UFO movie news round-up

The Spielberg-produced, J.J. Abrams-directed UFO movie Super 8 is sitting comfortably at the top of the U.S. box-office after a respectable (though not spectacular) weekend gross of $37 million. It will likely be toppled next weekend, though, by the release of yet another alien-themed movie - Green Lantern (in cinemas June 17).

Meanwhile, Spielberg's old friend and collaborator Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Contact) is in talks to shoot a $100 million, live-action, 3D movie based on Mattel's 1960s space-themed toy line, Major Matt Mason.

The toy line originally was hooked entirely around the wonders of Apollo-era spaceflight and lunar exploration, but later expanded to include a host of alien characters. Whether aliens will feature in the movie version remains to be seen. Life-long sci-fi fan and Zemeckis regular Tom Hanks has co-written the screenplay.

Finally, Space.com casts a critical eye over the science of Hollywood's UFO subgenre and asks: What Makes an Alien Encounter Movie Believable?