The new Star Trek movie is a success and so people are already thinking of sequels, and of course the subject of William Shatner is already being talked about in the media. And it should come as no surprise that this time Bill is again saying nice things and talking about how he wants to be in it. We have that plus a new Shatner/Star Trek sketch and a ShatnerVision interview with Karl Urban.
Bill hears Star Trek is wonderful + wants to be in sequel
In TrekMovie’s recent interview with JJ Abrams, the director said that the hardest decision for him was to not include William Shatner in Star Trek and that it was "a possibility" he could appear in the sequel. JJ repeated this even more recently in an interview with MTV.
And apparently Bill is ready to suit up as well. In an interview promoting Raw Nerve in Australia, the subject came up (or course), here is an excerpt:
Shatner is nothing but warm with his words about Abrams and the new Star Trek movie.
"No, I haven’t seen the movie yet," Shatner gently responds during a phone interview.
"I’m looking forward to it. I hear it is wonderful and it has received some wonderful reviews."
With the success of Abrams’ first effort, there is talk of a Star Trek sequel.
Shatner says he is open to being cast in the sequel.
"I would be delighted to be in it," Shatner responds.
Shatner is also open to inviting Abrams on Raw Nerve, but don’t expect Shatner to use his talk show to attack Abrams. Again, he wants to take the friendly route.
"I would love to," Shatner says when asked if he would invite Abrams to be a guest on the talk show.
Read the rest of the interview at Sydney Morning Herald.
Ferguson’s Shatner Star Trek Sketch
As an example of how ubiquitous the Shatner/Abrams/Star Trek thing is, here is yet another sketch about William Shatner and the Star Trek movie, this time coming from last week on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, with what may be the world’s worst Shatner impersonation.
Urban: Star Trek is sexy and back
And rounding out our Shatner/Star Trek news, one of the guests of William Shatner’s Horse Show Charity dinner a month ago was Karl Urban. The ShatnerVision guys were there to do a brief video interview which covers familiar ground, but there is a great Urban as Trekkie moment at the end:
Ahh Urban probably the only good thing to come out of this crap fest of a film, even Spock prime was dumbed down for Gen Y.
Star Trek is truly dead and gone, now watch this post get deleted because only positive posts are allowed on this website.
Urban is greatness.
I think it is wonderful that Abrahms and Shatner are on good terms. And yes, now that the alternate realty timeline has been established, Shatner should be able to appear in the sequels. I really think he has been humbled by JJ’s going through with the film without him. So here to a reunion yet to be, I hope.
By the way, Craig Ferguson is really sick.
shatner! shatner! shatner! shatner! shatner! shatner!
well, you get the picture…
Honestly, I don’t think Shatner wants to see the movie, or else he would have seen it in the first two weeks.
I kind of have mixed feelings on Mr. Shatner being in the next movie. If this movie wasn’t a alternate reality, we could have had Spock Prime return to the future and found that Kirk survived the events in Generations and was alive and well in the 24th century. Now Spock is trapped in a alternate timeline and this isn’t his universe.
Plus, how would the writers explain the old Kirk showing up? It would be too much after Spock Prime being in this movie. If Spock Prime goes to the future there will still be two Spocks.
The Shat just sees the dollar signs…
Well of course Bill wants to glom onto the sequel.
I don’t see what the problem is. It’s Science Fiction. You can do anything you want with Sci-Fi. JJ already proved that.
Gosh, Urban’s personality is quite a contrast from the character he plays in the movie. I’ve seen it 6 times now and then to watch Urban on this Shatnervision clip is rather interesting.
Oh, and that Craig Ferguson guy is GAWD-AWFUL.
Max #1: Your a fool! And please elaborate on how Spock was ‘dumbed down’? And why was it a ‘crap fest of a film’? It was excellent. And just how is Star Trek ‘dead and gone’. Seems it is stronger than it has been since The Voyage Home. It was because of ‘fans’ like you that Trek was allowed to croak, because you were picky about if Data did this in an episode or that Nemesis was this way or whatever, instead of supporting the franchise people like you got picky and it died. Now it is thriving and you want to kill it again!
omg that was amazing – “no, this is Mr. Sulu’s assistant!”
Brilliant
Bill screwed up in 1994 and now wants to have a re-boot of himself! LOL!
I respect Shatner for all he’s done on Trek, but, seriously, he needs to stuff it. He died in Generations. He accepted it, and now he wants back, suggesting they canonize his novels, which weren’t that great, to be honest.
Unless he play’s Kirk’s stepdad, I, IMO, can’t see him in Trek again.
I don’t want to have old (prime) Kirk in the sequel. It would again call for some kind of time travel story. Although this kind of story was necessary for this movie, the next one should about a straight, plain adventure of the new crew. I would be open to a Shatner (not portraying Kirk) cameo, though.
Oh and this is the only trek film to elicit a tear from me, at the beggining when Kirk’s dad sacrifices himself, yesterday, I saw it for a 4th time and had tears rolling down my cheeks! And not for a bad reason either!
Wes W
Warning for flaming, disagree without namecalling please
“He accepted it, and now he wants back, suggesting they canonize his novels, which weren’t that great, to be honest.”
His novels, Ashes of Eden, The Return, Avenger, were excellent! I loved them! They were certainly better than the crap that was Voyager at the time.
#16
Same here. That, along with Data’s death in Nemesis, is one of the most emotional scenes ever in Trek, IMO.
Well, Anthony for that guy to say that Trek is ‘dead’ and ‘gone’ that is foolish to say, it was a sci-fi story, very classic, and had enough of a story and action to make it good. And I loved their costumes back in Nov. ’07, when I was cast as an extra! As well as the rest of what they were doing. And you could feel electric around Paramount, they knew it was going to be a big hit. Caugh, I mean ‘Corporate Headquarters’! LOL!
@Max Hmmmm! Star Trek dead and gone?! Have you checked the box office status for this weekend? 191M domestically not to mention the global scores? Oh and Anthony only deletes a comment after a warning, considering you haven’t gotten that by now shows how open he can be!!
Having Shatner be in a sequel is a bad idea. I agree with the writers and Abrams that having Shatner in this film would have felt forced. Spock Prime is what made the alternate timeline story in the movie work. Kirk in his Spock Prime’s timeline is dead. No reason for him to be there. Do the events change Kirk’s death? I would say yes since Nero and Spock Prime’s intervention in time and the destruction of Vulcan had a lot of repercussions in the timeline. Kirk’s future could very much be different which works for the writers.
However, that being said, having Shatner appear in a sequel wouldn’t work for me. Another movie dealing with time travel? That’s the only way Shatner could make an appearance. As mush as I love TOS, the movie franchise needs to move on and focus on the new stories of the crew. Plus, time travel, as interesting a sci-fi plot device as it is, can be done to death and everyone would see through that in a sequel.
Message to Abrams and the writers: Boldy Move On….
I think we should move ahead and let the young continue with the new adventures. If however they do bring back a part for Shatner & Nimoy let it be that they return them both back to the Federation retirement home and take away their spaceship license & keys to any time travel ship and let them enjoy those golden years.
I say give Bill a chance. They were going to kill Kirk off whether he was in the movie or not. It wasn’t his choice to kill him.
Whenever Kirk appears without Spock and vice versa, it always just seems slightly off to me. Even in ST09, as good as it was really needed Bill to complement Len.
There’s a million ways to bring Original Kirk and Spock back together if they tried hard enough. Orci and Kurtzman are not the greatest writers out there even though they have had some massive popcorn hits recently (which I’ve enjoyed) I just don’t feel like they have oomph to do prime Kirk’s return justice.
Is Shatner humbled enough by his exclusion from the first film that he could be talked to frankly about this? Something along the lines of “Hey, Bill, with all due respect, we’d love to have you in the movie if we can recapture some of what you used to do with the character.”
It shouldn’t be too hard to suggest that Shatner play the role more like he did in the earlier films, more straight up, less ham. How you ask him to slim down is a tough one.
Karl Urban totally nailed McCoy. Would like to see more lines for him in a sequel.
There’s no good reason for Shatner to not be in the next movie … (altered timeline: Picard and Data keep Soran from launching his trilithium probe – Kirk Prime sill in Nexus – Spock Prime convinces Kirk Prime to leave Nexus for 2258)
#1 says, “Star Trek is truly dead and gone”. Question for you – Can you count to 400 million? Hardly the definition of “dead and gone”. Keep watching your re-runs if you don’t want to stay young at heart or as Young Spock would say, “Live long and prosper! (you conceited piece of —)”.
Canonizing the Shatner novels would be brilliant. Just the first three would be enough. Then you COULD use Kirk prime.
24- How could they kill Kirk off without Shatner? Offscreen, presumably?
28 – I think that would have been the plan.
They’re not going to use the Nexus. There were comments made by Abrams that were made available on this site confirming that they didn’t want to do that.
The sequel is going to have the same dynamic as this one – in other words, accessible for the casual fan. The Nexus, apart from being a dubious story element anyway, would confuse the hell out of the average moviegoer.
And before you say too bad for the average moviegoer, consider that they are the difference between an average Trek box office and the major hit that this one is, and the powers that be are not going to overlook commercial considerations.
More good vibes…nice. I would love TrekMovie to become TrekSequel…I look forward to following all the upcoming bits, rumors, and news in hopes of following the production of TrekXII. Good stuff here, except for Ferguson, who I remember had Shatner on his show a year or two ago…probably won’t see that again…
This might be weak, but what about a Shatner as Kirk role using the motif of the movie Frequency? Shatner doesn’t time travel, but has something to accomplish in the alternate timeline future that ties in to something going on in the new cast’s era.
I’m pretty sick of hearing from Shatner and his misguided sense of entitlement with this new series of films. It also takes a lot of gall to feign interest when he can’t even be bothered to watch this movie. Probably best that he hasn’t, otherwise he’d see that Chris Pine outshines him on every level as an actor. I don’t get why this site keeps reporting this stuff as news…
It would be nice to see the original cast one last time on the big screen. All of them. Well you know, Shatner, Nimoy, Nichols, Koenig and Takei. But I know that it’s not going to happen. Too bad.
Allenburch (Comment 26) has an idea that intrigues me.
Since the Nexus is a non-linear phenomenon, it’s possible that it’s existence, and subsequently it’s inhabitants, isn’t/aren’t(word choice?) pinpointed into one specific reality and that Kirk(Prime) could exit in the Altered Reality just as he did the Prime reality.
I still don’t want Shat in the next Trek, but if O&K wanted to do it, i’d say give Allenburch a chance to further that thought.
All they have to do is another Comic Book Prequel to get Shatner in the next movie.
…comic could be a Nexus thing…a Borg resurrection thing…anything…
Main-stream peeps wouldn’t have to know how Kirk Prime get’s there but lotsa lotsa people love Shatner.
33 – I don’t get why this site keeps reporting this stuff as news…
because not everyone agrees with your view of shatner. It’s great that you have an opinion, but feeling strongly about it doesn’t make it fact. There are a lot of people who grew up watching William Shatner as James T. Kirk and want to see him play the role one more time.
And comments by a potential cast member, or the director of the movie regarding potential casting is by definition news about Star Trek.
I agree, the Nexus is not an option. I’m sure if the guys over at 24 can bring Tony back, then J.J. can bring Kirk P back a hell of a lot better than that or using the Nexus.
TBH though, maybe the best route would be to let it go. I don’t want to see the next film be time travel / alternate universe (unless it’s mirror) and by the time they did a third film Bill would be in his 80’s.
The one thing I really hope they don’t do after this series of films is finished is recast. It was hard enough accepting it once. I love the Star Trek universe and love the way it evolves and want to know more post Nemesis. I’ll never forget when TNG started and the Klingons were at peace with the federation and even had one serving aboard the Enterprsie! It’s this ever changing canvas, the characters and the history it holds that I love.
I hear the sequel will involve time travel again. The Enterprise travels back in time to save the sperm whale. Shatner will play the whale.
He could play Pine’s grandfather Tiberius otherwise it would be an obvious attempt to appease the “Bring back Kirk” crowd. The only other possibility is a revisit to the Nexus but that would also be contrived.
As far as the sequel goes, I hope it keeps the action and the epic scale of the current one. If Shat is on board then that would be cool too, especially if they can make up for his lame/unnecessary death in Generations.
But I REALLY hope that they can avoid the many plot holes that plagued this one (and I’m not talking about canon stuff, just things that really should have been avoided). That was the only thing that disappointed me about this one.
Shatner doesn’t need to be in the sequel…I don’t think it would work, but if anyone can make it work it will be Orci, Kurtzman, and JJ Abrams.
34 – That’s what Star Trek VI was.
Anthony Pascale #17, Wes W.
Are you remonstrating with Wes W for calling Max a ‘fool’? Was that the name calling?
Might I postulate that anyone who can incorrectly state in writing, that ‘Star Trek is truly dead’, when all eveidence suggests the reverse to be the ‘truth’ (truly) actually qualifies as being foolish?
Just an alternative observation.
Live long and prosper.
I love this new film and it was great to see Nimoy play Spock once again. However, I don’t think Shatner is capable of playing Kirk again. He hasn’t been Kirk since TWOK. If they are misguided enough to put him in the next one, he better not play Kirk like the pansy twit he was in Generations.
Including Shatner would tend to make me avoid the next film, rather than look forward to it. They’ve proven Trek can be a success without him, why risk their formula just to please some hardcore fans?
Please, PLEASE, no Bill.
Thank god at least one character stayed true to the source material….I think Urban out shined all of them and hopefully he plays an even bigger role in the next film…His dead-on Kelly impression would impressed his superior who left us all those years ago…and as you can see….he’s a trekkie…this film needed a fan’s touch in some way and thankfully it was from him…you can tell in his other interviews that he actually cares
William Shatner is THE MAN.
But I have to say no Shat in the next film. Bob — keep it fresh, keep it original…please…
For Shat to be in it, the whole plot would have to be written around him — otherwise, it would just be a kind of lame cameo.
Please. No.
24. Chris
I have to respectfully disagree about Nimoy needing Shatner. There is so going on in the movie that I think he could’ve ended up falling by the wayside, and I personally think the movie was awesome as it was. In fact, the first thing that came to mind when I walked out of the theater was “Wow, Shatner wasn’t is this movie, was he? Huh.” I realized that I didn’t miss him. I’ll agree that Shatner could be in the next one, but it has to serve the story “organically”, as boborci is so fond of saying.
So, if Shatner is kicking himself for killing Kirk off in Generations, and now wants in on the sequel, does that mean the Shat has been through his own kind of reboot?
No to Shatner in the new movie. Sorry, Bill. As much as I love your Kirk, it’s time for new actors.