Shatner & Orci React To 2016 Star Trek Movie Rumor

kirkspock-head

Since reported yesterday the rumor about the possibility of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appearing in the next Star Trek film has set fandom ablaze with speculation. Much of the discussion has focused particularly Shatner, and now he has weighed in on it, as has Roberto Orci. See what they have to say below…

Shatner and Orci Weigh In On Kirk & Spock Prime Rumor

Bob Orci, the director and co-screenwriter of the 2016 Star Trek movie, weighed in on the Shatner/Nimoy scene rumor here at TrekMovie, with two separate comments. Firstly last night Orci wrote this:

boborci – September 22, 2014

love no win scenarios. In theoy, damned either way.

Some took that Star Trek II reference as a confirmation, so today Orci added this comment:

 boborci – September 23, 2014

Not in my interest to confirm or deny anything because it limits my options while maintaining my integrity as a truth teller.

The movie is not the movie till it is in the theater. Until then, everything is a rumor.

A few hours later, William Shatner took to Twitter with a statement of his own:

And Shatner felt this tweet was so important, he actually ‘pinned’ it to the top of his Twitter page.

So what we know is:

  • There is a single story that has now been picked up by numerous outlets and has not been denied nor confirmed by Bob Orci, Paramount Pictures, Bad Robot, or anyone else involved with the production.
  • William Shatner (according to the man himself) has not been approached by anyone, and apparently found out about this at the same time everyone else did.
  • Leonard Nimoy hasn’t made any mention of the rumor (yet)

A quick side note:  Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote a scene for Shatner in the 2009 Star Trek film, but decided that it didn’t work, and never even showed the scene to Shatner. That scene was never actually part of any of the drafts of the script, but was an optional scene that was ready to be dropped in the team agreed it could work. This could end up being something similar.  As Bob notes above,  the movie isn’t done until it’s in the theaters, and what is written early on could always fall by the wayside for a multitude of reasons.

That said, we suspect we haven’t heard the last of this.  As always, TrekMovie will bring you the latest information as we get it.

 

Fans weigh in

As for the fans, based on voting from the poll TrekMovie put up yesterday, they overwhelmingly they want to see Shatner and Nimoy reunited in 2016. As of this writing, 78% want to see them both, with another 4% wanting to see one or the other and only 18% wanting neither.

[poll id=”737″]

 

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A good start would have Orci sending the script pages to Shat regarding Kirk’s appearance. See what the Shat feels about it. If he’s intriqued, meet with him flesh a possible appearance in the next movie.

I love Shatner, he did a great deal for the franchise as Kirk. But no, simply no. I cannot see him in ST:3. Nimoy as Spock was a good use of the character to link Prime universe with JJverse and far more believable than Shatner…

And… 1st

Just fix the timeline and erase the Abrams universe garbage.

Just put them in the damned movie. It will be the 50th anniversary of Trek. It’s now or never Mr. Orci. So please put them in there.

Nimoy and Shatner had their run.
It’s like the many endings of Fellowship of the Ring. Just fade to black, no more please!

How about a small stand alone scene at the end of the movie where 2 old guys visit Starfleet Museum. I see it starting a bit like this…..

The vessel glistened in her berth. The spotlights played upon and accentuated her subtle curves. The elderly human
and his Vulcan friend looked upon her from the glass skywalk. The human felt the breath sucked from his lungs. Her beauty always did have that effect on him. He could recall that first time he gazed upon her as a young man. Little did he know then that she would become his life’s passion. His raison d’etre. His reason for living. With her he could find purpose. And he needed purpose
above all other things. Not for him a sandy beach or the embrace of family. He had long since accepted that.
The skywalk gently slid along under their feet taking them along the length of the nacelles toward the rear of the saucer
section and into the entrance way. The walkway stopped long enough to allow its elderly visitors to step down…..

The scene would leave nothing by way of explanation and need not impact upon the new actors or their story.

Shatner can appear as Chris Pine after he rapidly ages. Episode called The Deadly Years.

I would love to see both on he movie as a proper send off. Please make this happen. Bob Orci. You have the blessing of the trek fans.

I voted no, but it depends on the story. Into Darkness didn’t need Leonard Nimoy’s cameo.

DEAR BOB ORCI,

There are infinitely diverse ways how you can incorporate any combination of former franchise actors and story lines…

Webisodes… TV vignettes… Flashback/Flash Forward…
(I’m thinking of how STVI and TNG built on each other … Khitomer … Worf … Spock … Romulans). Even the slightest connections — in real time — were simply exhilarating!

Through the years there have been so many attempts to provide a “gift to the fans” (the series finale of Enterprise comes to mind).

We’ve been seeing the new timeline in its immediate aftermath. Arguably, the future “as we know it” has been drastically altered. Do Picard and all his contemporaries even exist? Has Starfleet evolved into something unrecognizable? The eradication of generations of Vulcans alone surely has changed the landscape of the universe in future centuries.

A real gift to the fans, IMHO, would be to take this occasion of the 50th Anniversary and 3rd movie to launch a new TV series. Let’s take things 100 years after Picard/Sisko/Janeway in any timeline. Perhaps Kirk and Spock prime are instrumental in launching an “Enterprise J” or L or whatever.

NOW… We have the beloved actors who launched a starship and a series 50 years ago… DOING IT AGAIN… a new series and a new starship… honoring the legacy of Shatner and Nimoy AS WELL AS the Kirk and Spock characters — (and all the years of boldly going) — in one epic adventure across space and time and LOOKING FORWARD ti a hopeful future.

Just some thoughts. Thank you for being accessible to us. Forgive the negativity that often comes across in these forums… the higher the fewer!

LLAP, Jim

I understand fan service but why stump the franchise’s chance to venture forward to a new frontier by reverting back to the original actors over and over again? If Star Trek can’t be Star Trek without Shatner and Nimoy, its going to die for so many people when those two pass away. Oh wait, we can always use CGI! Why not sack all the young actors and make the threequel with CGI TOS actors?!! The theaters would be jam packed!!!

In the words of another starship captain

JUST DO IT

Erasing the JJ verse would make a lot of sense – not because its generally unpopular with the fans, but because it could force together a Dr Who anniversary style mix of mash up. For some reason Spock Prime is needed in the Prime Timeline – to this end, Picard comes into the JJ verse to take him back – bringing Prime Kirk with him as bait.

Make it happen!
It would indeed make sense to erase the JJ Verse and start anew. Orci could create his own vision of Star Trek. He could either do a new reboot in a new universe or he could return to the Prime universe and shape it.

Also the new cast don’t have contracts for new movies so they could cast new heroes in the new (or Prime) universe.

Why not get Patrick Stewart somehow into the frame of the story , and convince him to take it. I think every genuine fan of Star Trek would love to see him back one more time as Picard. He was a huge influence on the TNG cast , and arguably was intrumental in the success of the show and therefore of Star Trek itself. He would be great figure head for the 50th anniversary.

I just think having had Spock back twice now is enough for me. And Shatner, he’s not really acting much these days, is he? Semi – retired.

Why are people thinking that Shatner would have a Kirk cameo and not as someone or something else?

I bet shatner would “weigh in” a lot more than Orci.

I still like the idea. But whatever works to make the movie amazing works for me!

Shatner + Nimoy for 1 last mini adventure = huge box office boost these guys are icons as Kirk/Spock please make it so.

Just make a good film with a strong story, please.

With all this trouble to reboot, create an alternate timeline and get great new actors in their rolls lets please move on!! Let’s have an original story in deep space.

May 2016.
That’s about all we fans have right now.

#13: You’re misinformed. The Abrams universe is NOT “generally unpopular with the fans.” These films have been very well-received. Just because some vocal fans on online forums (which represent a tiny fraction of the audience) dislike them in no way means the films are unpopular. They are very popular. You guys are in a definite minority.

#15: There’s no such thing as a “genuine fan of Star Trek.” That’s elitist garbage. What makes a fan genuine? What’s a non-genuine Star Trek fan? If someone likes the show, he or she is a fan. You’re not more genuine a fan than anyone else.

#1: Everyone here is an armchair filmmaker.

I hate this endless let’s make a movie by committee, just make it and stop this see what the fans think, crap.

Sure would be tough to integrate it into the actual story. After all, it couldn’t be too integral to the story because the actors can always say no. It has to be able to be cut without harming the story. I think the best bet would be an after end credits “surprise”, like the Marvel movies. The new adventure is over, roll a few credits, then some loosely related or even non related, just Trekkish scene with Kirk and Spock toasting 50 years of adventures. Would be a great cherry on top what is going to be, I’m sure, another great Star Trek adventure!

But for now, I’m seasoning this rumor with the 1 grain of salt it merits!

#24 “Everyone here is an armchair filmmaker.”

And bad ones too.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if somehow they’ve found a way to correct Kirk Prime’s death and Spock Prime’s displacement in the apt timeline?

I could only read the first few comments before I had to say this.

If you dont want to see William Shatner as Captain Kirk, fine, Whatever. But Im tired of the same old useless arguments.

“He’s too old/fat/whatever”.
“Let the new guys stand on their own”
“Its not fair to the new guys”
“Be original and not a rehash”

To which I say, X-men. To which I say Star Wars. Sometimes the people making these stupid arguments dont even know what they are saying. How can an actor be too old to play a part? Christopher Lee was 80 years old when he played Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones, an action role. He’s 92 right now and in The Hobbit.

Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher were both called too old and fat for Star Wars.

Leonard Nimoy is, what, 83? Played Spock just fine.

William Shatner would be the most decorated cast member in the new film, barring any major guest stars. He’s a multiple-award winning actor.

We’re talking about a character not a story so the “be original” makes no sense. Can William Shatner not appear in an original story?

Stupid arguments against. There hasnt been one good reason stated anywhere yet that legitimately argues against the inclusion of William Shatner.

I’m more or less an original Trekker; I was watching TOS in first run before the parents of most people who post here met. I watched the repeats on WPIX and elsewhere when most people here were in diapers. Saw “TMP’ on day one; made six more trips to the theater to see it afterward. Including on its last day of release. I’d love to see a Shatner/Nimoy cameo in the next movie. Rumor or no, make it happen. Please.

I’ll take Star Trek rumors over Star Wars rumors any day. Fun to speculate either way.

# 24. BatlethInTheGroin – September 24, 2014

” #1: Everyone here is an armchair filmmaker.” — BatlethInTheGroin

And that includes Bob Orci. What was it he said? Something about until a completed film is delivered that Paramount can distribute, everything about it, including his directing, is just a rumor?

It’s the 50th Anniversary man!

Gotta have Shatner and Nimoy in the next movie! They are Sci-Fi icons, legends. A gift for the fans. As it turns out, it’s the fans that have kept this franchise afloat for 50 years.

On a side note:

For those criticizing us TOS fans for wanting a more TOS style bridge, read this article. http://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-make-quantum-leap-teleport-data-farther-than-ever-before/#ftag=YHF65cbda0.

Those crystals kind of look like the jelly bean buttons on the TOS bridge do they not?

I would like to see it happen, but only if it’s done right. But of course one man’s “right” is another man’s “wrong.”

The iBridge was a huge mistake.

Loved the look of the Kelvin though. Wish they had gone with the idea of having the Kelvin be the original Enterprise so we could actually see it on screen again. Would have been very cool.

They both may not commit one way or another and so let us fans just wonder and wonder until the movie actually comes out. This way we all remain in unending suspense until then.

Impressive, in less than 8 hours almost 2,300 votes, of which over 76% FAVOR including Shatner and Nimoy in the next film.

Overwhelming support for this in any book.

Unlike Khan, and we all know how that turned out, it seems it would behoove Paramount, BR, and Orci to heed this advice, as much as I personally don’t want to see it.

Of course there’s always the foreign audiences who would prefer Trek be less Trek-like, and Shatner and Nimoy at this point only serve to taint the reboot with the old-school image the studio has been seeking to avoid.

Bob, we already have a great Kirk and Spock in Pine and Quinto. It would be a huge mistake to bring back Shatner and Nimoy in even a minor cameo. Let them be. They are part of the glorious past.

Well, no shit. It’s a rumor started by an idiot blogger. Thanks for clearing that up.

On one hand we heard it was integral to the story. We also heard that it could be dropped. The studio seems to like the first draft so hopefully it doesnt change too much. This reminds me of Trek 09 where Bob had said if Nimoy had declined they were screwed. The would have had to start from scratch. If the roles are indeed integral then it could be something similar. Seems Bob has options this time but I am still glad if he took a risk. 50th anniversary and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we are fortunate to have. Of course the movie needs to be great as well.

I am sure that negotiations are going to play a role in this as well. Not sure what Nimoy got for the others but both will ask for alot

#33: Did you have a point? I don’t see where you’re going with that.

@41. I’m not sure either. I mean for one he calls the lead writer, probable director, of the film an “armchair filmmaker” when in fact Bob is a professional filmmaker no matter what anyone wants to say about it. An armchair filmmaker, like an armchair quarterback, is a person who despite having no training or experience in the specified field insists that they know how to do the job better than the professionals hired to do it. That is the very definition of the term and since Bob has been in filmmaking for quite some time now it is impossible to apply that term to him.

That scene for ST 2009 reads great and would have worked IMO. Hopefully they can fit a scene ib the new movie!

#42: Exactly. I have a feeling #33 simply doesn’t understand what it means to call someone an “armchair _______.” By the term’s very definition, a person who does something for a living (such as filmmaking) is not an armchair.

It would actually be easy to work an older Kirk into this universe and ignore his death.

It is very likely Kirk does not die at the hands of Soren now. That said, he could become much older in this universe and in a time travel story could come back in time.

Maybe in the future he hears about an older Spock from another time line and needs to come back and get him for some reason. Who knows, but the bottom line is that Kirk can still be alive in the JJverse.

It would actually be easy to work an older Kirk into this universe and ignore his death.

It is very likely Kirk does not die at the hands of Soren now. That said, he could become much older in this universe and in a time travel story could come back in time.

Maybe in the future he hears about an older Spock from another time line and needs to come back and get him for some reason. Who knows, but the bottom line is that Kirk can still be alive in the JJverse.

The 50th anniversary is great but it won’t pressure anyone to do anything they don’t otherwise want to do. There was talk of getting all the James Bond actors together at the Oscars for the 007 series’ 50th anniversary, but of course it didn’t happen.

Just want to pop out of lurkdom to say that, as fans, we are LUCKY that our 2 icons, Bill & Leonard, are not only still with us, but still look good, are mentally sharp, very active, famous and popular. Not many other franchises will ever have this opportunity, so Mr. Orci, who I respect because he is an old school fan, should definitely make this happen. Orci, you & I are about the same age and we both grew up seeing the original Star Trek movies in the Houston area. And I was there when you surprise debuted Star Trek to a stunned Austin audience in 2009. Kudos to you, sir.

Even if it is only one scene, what a perfect way to bookend 50 years of the greatest sci-fi series ever. I can’t wait! First Harrison Ford as Han Solo again, and now this. What an amazing time to be a geek – cinematic dreams, once thought impossible, are now coming true!