In the new video from ShatnerVision, the original Captain Kirk was asked if he has heard anything about the new Star Trek movie…his answer:
I know nothing. It kind of…makes me feel bad. I know nothing. I know less than you people out there because I don’t read about it, I am not paying much attention to it. So if you hear anything send us an email so you can tell us whether you hear of any information. You know how the tabloids pay for gossip information about celebrities, well celebrities are now paying for gossip information about studios.
According to TrekMovie.com sources Bill is not playing coy and he is still interested in being in the film. Apparently there has not been any contact since the initial meeting with Star Trek XI director JJ Abrams last year. However the fact that he has not yet been contacted does not necessarily mean that he will not be in the film (but time is running out…cameras start rolling in 4-5 months).
I really wonder if he knows a lot more than he is letting on. He seems way to cheery about NOT knowing. (I can’t stand this not knowin’!)
shatner knows.
Heh…wouldn’t surprise me if he’s really in the know…lol
I would think by the next couple of weeks if not months Paramount will release casting news on the film. And thats going to be a busy day indeed lol. Even if hes not involved they are going to go ahead and do the movie anyway.
It depends how much money Paramount is willing bankroll for him being in the film. Actors are the last to know anything.
I really don’t think he’s “in the know”. Kinda sad as I’d like for Shatner to have some input into the casting of his successor.
I wish some real news would come out.
OH how I yearn of all for real news! Poor Shat doesn’t he know yet about the budget cuts that prevent him and Nimoy from being in the movie because of their enormous greed??? Didn’t he get the memo, Abrams wants to make a good movie not shell out millions to have two actors in it for a scene or two… Come on now.
Aaron R.
If the studio doesn’t want to pay millions up front to Shatner and Nimoy, but think they would help the movie, then why not offer them “no pay” now, but say 1% of the gross each? If they help put asses in the seats and the film grosses $500 million, that would pay them $5 million each! Pretty good pay for spending a couple of days filming a glorified cameo to “bookend” the movie and have them participate in relaunching the franchise!
what are you talking about Aaron , shatner has to be in the movie , sure we all gave money to save enterprise , i am sure if we put a euro or a dollar each in , we can get shatner the gold bars he wants lol , and jesus shatner can still act ( lol well kinda ) come on people look at him , he knows ! oh he knows !
“The Shat” always cracks me up! Such a great sense of humor!
But he seemed so subdued on this clip, like he was on tranquilizers…strange.
As I’ve said a few times before, I do hope all the surviving TOS cast members get a final curtain call in the next movie. A small cameo part for each would be a fitting tribute to the original series.
But it seems many here are only clamoring for Shatner and Nimoy to be in the new Trek movie. For myself, TOS was more than just Spock and Kirk and I would like to see all the original characters acknowledged in the next movie, not just the two.
But I’m not holding my breath for that, and I wouldn’t be surprised if NO TOS actors are included in Star Trek XI.
MIke :o
#6 Stanky,
You aren’t interested in change, so news is going to be slow for a long time for you, bud
IMO, the movie needs to be a clean break from the old cast. Otherwise having two Captain Kirk’s in the movie is just distracting and not needed except for the Shatner fans who need just one more suckle.
X
If you mean one more suckle at the teat, boy, the Shat would be the man for the job! At 76 and with his pudgy frame, he’s probably got honkers as big as the one’s on the spacebabes he used to chase around on TOS!
Hey… I got a fever… and the only cure… is more SHATNER!
Frankly I’ve had enough Canadian Bacon. It’s time for the new crew to take the Enterprise out.
Oh, I get it….suckle..as in pig…ham…Canadian Bacon…but, Shatner’s jewish…er, how did we get on to pork? Gee, suddenly I’m getting peckish for a bunch of baby back ribs….hmmmmm, can’t talk….eating!!
Look at the disrespect!
It could always be worse I say, we could be getting more Captain Yawn Puke Phucktard, Barf, Info, Smasher, La-forgery, Beard man, and the wannabe head shrink.
Shatners NAME alone carries as much weight as the chunks on his ass, speaking of which, a two hour closeup of the divits grandly pocking his swollen white ass would attract more media hype and Box office than the last two Trek films and series combined.
It’s a SIN not having the Shats shit included in this film even if it’s only to cut his scenes out, the DVD sales alone would justify the mans asking price.
Come on Paramount.
Abrams listen up pal.
We can swallow the recast. We can tolerate a successor to the throne.
What we can’t tolerate though is the absence of fat Shat and his swollen bloated girth. I want a waddling Kirk man! I’m talking Orson Welles proportions.
Who gives a Shat about plot or story? Budget or scope? Continuity or Trek history?
Throw a uniform on the man and give him some generic lines to read. it doesn’t matter what it is, hell even the ingrediants to Captain Crunch would suffice.
Only this time, don’t digitally remove his ass like in Trek VI. Kirk has earned his weight as much as his reputation.
11. Xai – June 8, 2007
The point being that if there is going to be news, then it would be nice if it would BE news, not some speculation and filler.
For you see, Mr. X, though I am against the entire concept of doing this movie, I fully realize that change is inevitable, so I am naturally interested for my own reasons to find out what those changes are really going to be.
Or some such thing. :) Mostly I was just being sarcastic. Bud.
Maybe they’ll cast him as Uhura this time… :)
Can’t wait for official casting on this thing…it’s gonna be a rough house around here.
I only hope the new cast don’t end up looking like some Saturday Night Live parody, but with better effects…
I think Shatner does know what the movie is about because of his previous meeeting with Abrams.
Unfortunately Abrams who has yet to prove he can deliver anything Trek wise is going to try and rehash TOS and sell it off as “new”. A prequel movie is just a stupid way to go. I would of been more happy to see a new cast instead. But again what do the “real fans” know?!?!
Star Trek without William Shatner as Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock is NOT Star Trek at all and should be boycotted!
Hey Shatner,
I think it’s safe to say that you know what’s going on considering that unlike us you are on record as having private meetings with J.J. Abrams.
You are also on record as saying that Abrams wanted you + Nimoy in Star Trek XI.
Please stop acting stupid.
I bet he is already signed + they are keeping it quiet.
If that were the case, then why put a video out at all?
#10-Bill had just completed an intense workout with me. He told me he needs to shake some pounds fast. Said something about “galloping around the cosmos is a game for the thin…” or something like that! LOL
#21 Harbinger,
You’re boycotting? Cool. You want me to bring some popcorn out to ya on the picket line after the movie?
“Star Trek without William Shatner as Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock is NOT Star Trek at all and should be boycotted!”
Then you have little chance at seeing anymore new Trek since both in their 70’s now,
Butter on that?
They should just cancel the film and wait a few more years.
My bet is that when it comes out, there will be no Shatner and none of the other old actors. It’ll be great, and everyone will wonder why they ever doubted that such a fresh approach could work.
Next Gen Era never happened, voilla problem solved. Kirk, our Kirk, never died. If, as it seems that this is sort of a reeboot/faithful to Original cannon hybrid then only the Original is cannon and that whole godawful Next Genie era never occured in our Trek Universe (call it Trek Prime) We can cherry pick from the bland Next Genie Trek universe what we want to eventually go into our Trek universe. Say DS9 and a Commander Sisco are in it but as a deep frontier starbase along the Klingon-Romulan border. Q can be Trelane(or vice versa) because Q was a ripoff or reiterprutation of Trelane anyway. So Kirk never actually died and he can be in the film in one way or another maybe in the prologue meeting with his Vulcan friend to reminise about when they were young.
#28 I like the way you think and, by the way, what have you been smokin’?
# 25 Xai
From the box office + ratings results of the last few ST series + films. it looks like the majority of fans are taking the same stance Harbinger is taking.
Nobody cares about ST w/out Shatner + Nimoy.
Nonsense, I care about Trek without Shatner and Nimoy. The Next Gen series was exceptionally well done, but everything after…including the movies…just lost direction.
Trek doesn’t NEED Shatner and Nimoy to succeed, it could fail or crumble with or without them. What Trek DOES need, is a creative team that cares about the source material, the spirit, the characters…and mainly…just telling a good story. It also needs to be left alone by ‘uncreative, money grubbing SUITS’ and FANS who think they know it all. It needs to be treated with professionalism, and a degree of seriousness…not the schlock and sentimentality that began oozing from the franchise as it aged. That’s what turned me off of Trek the most…I can’t stand all the schmaltzy sentiment…’cue violins….because we’re actors and our characters are aware that they’re in an aging franchise’. BLACH, WRETCH. Give me real, don’t give me fake. Shatner and Nimoy aren’t Kirk and Spock anymore…they’re just Shat and Nimoy in space suits…sleeping through their lines.
It would be risky to not use them. Did anyone here see Hannibal Rising? No? That’s probably because Anthony Hopkins name wasn’t attached to it at all. Anyone remember how bad the ratings were for the first season of TNG. A new crew, a new ship, no Shatner, no Nimoy, no Kelly (okay, he did a three minute cameo). A movie doesn’t have two or three seasons to start winning over fans.
A clean break? A reboot? Go ahead, I can always use my 10 dollars (plus 50 for snacks thanks to those greedy SOBs) somewhere else.
#30 – Way to speak on behalf of everyone, Voodoo. Care to show us your extensive polling data that proves that? Or that they would be really interested WITH Shatner and Nimoy?
Cause without that data you could always be accused of being badly out of step with the public at large. Not to mention talking out of your ass. ;)
#30 VOOdoo
Just to clarify.
I am seeing the movie regardless of who (or how many) play James T. Kirk. And I am betting you will too, and I’ve no idea who you are.
But I stand by my opinion of Shatner’s (and Nimoy’s) participation.
The last movie tanked because it was poorly written and directed. It was not because Shatner wasn’t steering the ship.
Enterprise left because it lacked good writing early. The final season overall was fun. Plus it was not seen in about 40% of the US market because UPN wasn’t IN those markets. As it appeared, it would have warped out even if Shatner was in it.
#31 New Horizon said it best and I agree with those words.
There is a whole lot of people….not die hard Trekkers or Trekkies, just plain jane people who like Star Trek because they like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. These are people that aren’t even aware of a TNG much less A Ds9 or Voyager. They are your aunts, your uncles, the guy down at the garage who fixes your car. It’s mainstream America…an aging part of it anyway. There is another segment of mainstream america, mostly the younger crowd, that has never layed eyes on William Shatner as Captain Kirk, confuse Star Wars with Star Trek and associate them both with nerds and virgins….but they know and like, I mean they REALLY like, WIlliam Shatner…not to mention they are all hooked on LOST. Mainstream is where Paramount want’s Trek to return to, and Shatner and Nimoy’s participation, done correctly, could easily help them achieve that goal. Other than a possibility that their roles will not be meaningful, I can’t think of any real downsides to their involvement. But if they were to be included only as a cheap cameo and clever “tip of the hat”, I hope they stay away.
There are a lot of people who are fond of Sean Connery as James Bond. People a little bit younger are fond of him, too, at least before he retired. But the Bond franchise managed to move forward without Connery in the role, even though he’s the one who created it. It’s managed to come back several times without him.
I think Trek’s state today is pretty much equivalent to the state of the Bond franchise after the lackluster Timothy Dalton Bond movies. The franchise was in a slump then, and the naysayers were saying you just couldn’t have Bond without Connery or Roger Moore. But then GoldenEye came out and Pierce Brosnan revived the franchise for several films. Then he got the axe and people started complaining because blonde Daniel Craig got the role–he was wrong! All wrong! Casino Royale made a mint at the box office anyway.
All this anecdotal evidence about how purists have pals or a relative who’s fond of Shatner doesn’t amount to much. There’s no reason Trek can’t succeed without Shatner. It will take good casting and a great story to pull it off, but there’s not reason not to do it. Hey, if the Star Wars prequels can be a success without any of the original actors in their iconic roles–and the most recent series of movies didn’t even have the benefit of good stories–then why can’t this work?
Looked at logically, there’s no reason it can’t. The purists just don’t want it to work, that’s all. But change is coming, boys and girls. Whether you like it or not.
#35 JonBoc,
Paramount wants this to be mainstream and that’s why we will see a TOS film. I agree that Shatner is associated with Kirk very strongly. I agree with you on both points. But this is a two edged sword. Shatner and Nimoy have never been shy about their $$$ demands, OR how “meaningful” their roles must be for them to show up. The studio wants mainstream, but likely won’t pay what they feel is excessive salaries for two actors doing what amounts to cameo roles or minor parts. More than a decade ago, Shatner willing killed Kirk for a check. He was an accomplice to murder of his character. He could have said No after reading the script or the likely rewrites, but went along with killing Kirk as much as anyone can be blamed for it. I like Shatner as Kirk and TJ and Denny Crane, but I found it tough to swallow that he’d do that to the character he will be best remembered for. And as for “drawing power”… Shatner, while well-liked, is not a universal savior. While Boston Legal does ok, “Show me the Money” was shown the door quickly.
You forgot a segment of your “demographic”. There is another segment that grew up and fully knows the differences between Star Trek and Star Wars, they know that there was another crew in a prior generation, but “their” Enterprise was captained by Picard.
If Trek XI is destined to feature two Kirks in direct comparison, there will be three big losers. The Trek franchise, the studio and the movie-going fans. A ship can only have one master at a time. Two Kirks acted by two actors in the same film via time travel, flashbacks, rifts or dream squences will only be a confusing disservice to the butts in the seats.
#37 I disagree, as long as the actor of young Kirk fits the part. There’s been several instances where characters are played by more than one actor at different stages in their lives.
Shatner did allow killing off Kirk in Generations, but after First Contact was released regreted it. He even went to Paramount and pitched an idea about bringing Kirk back (which became his book series). I don’t believe he realized until the character was gone how much he enjoyed playing the part. Kirk made him a hero and a ladies man rather than an eccentric old cook.
#36 Bond is a totally different animal than Trek. Trek has attempted to maintain a continuity for 40 years. Bond could not work that way when you have a character who by now would be around 80 years old. A character that was a spy at the height of the Cold War who is now still a young spy jumping from explosions and having fist fights with the bad guys.
#34 I will not be going to see the movie regardless of who blames James Kirk. It takes alot to drag me out to the movies and shell out that much money to see a two hour flick (based purely on principal). If it doesn’t look good, or it looks like a reboot forget it. You can make a movie that sticks with continuity, but still explains everything out so that anyone can go see and enjoy it.
#36 — See, I just don’t get that rationale. A reboot won’t work because Trek has a continuity of 40 years? Who cares about that continuity except for the hardcore fans? Not the casual Trek fan–those aunts and uncles and guys in garages you mentioned aren’t going to have a fit because the nacelle caps on the new Enterprise don’t match the old ones. And not the members of the general public, either, who hardly know anything about Trek. If the movie draws in those two crowds alone it will be a great success, because they outnumber the hardcore fanbase by wide margins.
Trek XI is a smart approach, if the goal is to get more people interested in Trek again. We’ll just have to see if they pull it off. I have a hunch I’ll see you there at the movies…despite your protests to the contrary. :)
I don’t care if Paramount makes money.
I don’t care if the general public likes the movie.
I don’t care who is directing or producing or running the lights.
I don’t care about comparisons with James Bond.
I don’t care about how good or bad the story is.
I don’t care about “Generations”
I don’t care if Shatner is in or out.
I don’t care if Xai is already in line. :)
Because they will have a Fake Kirk. (and a bunch of other fake stuff)
and really I am a very caring individual :)
40 —
Ah, but Stanky, all those reasons you listed are the very same reasons nobody in a position to make a difference cares about what you think, either. Paramount is hardly going to listen to fans who state upfront they don’t care whether the studio makes money or not.
I’ll see you in line on opening day! :)
Anyone eventually knows how to find the script of the movie on the net?
If they want all the fans (and all the fans MONEY) to see TREK 11, they need to bring in Shatner and Nimoy (even Takie, Nicholls, and Koneig would be nice).
41
I don’t care if they care what I think…
I care what I think…
and here’s what I think…
Even if they throw in a red bridge railing and turbolift door and a gooseneck viewer or two, I will not be in line on opening day…
#42 Logan,
I doubt you’ll find this movies script anywhere. And if it was “out there” would we be arguing in here about the subject of this thread?
Stank… you still haven’t quite got your handle comment fine tuned, eh?
Perhaps “TrekXI is a fake”.
#42 Demode.
All the movie needs is a good story, well directed, well acted. For Trek to continue, it cannot depend on it’s original actors. Plus it’s original actors will, as I mentioned earlier, likely want a fortune for their roles, big or small. And they won’t want a cameo or a small part. “Meaningful” is the favorite word, I believe. Besides, old Kirk is dead.
#38 Kevin,
We have people in here that believe no one else can play Kirk besides Shatner (looking at Stanky). You want two? I mean, you may get your wish… but I think that other’s arguments that Shatner is Kirk makes it difficult on any other Kirk actor.
Wow, my post was riddled with typos. I should really read them before posting.
45. Xai
Can’t wait for the announcement of who is playing the fake Kirk.
#47 Stanky” first in line at XI”
That’s the spirit!
I liked the joke about celebraties paying for news about studios. That really cracked me up.
What I feel should happen is that Shatner and Nimoy have major roles in the movie along with the other surviving members. The actors playing the young Kick, Spock roles etc should be only minor roles that could be developed in a future movie.