For the 2009 Star Trek movie, director JJ Abrams and his team brought in the original Spock Leonard Nimoy to help build the bridge to the new crew and new movie universe. And now George Takei says (while attending ECCC over the weekend) he originally thought Abrams might look to another original Star Trek star to come on board for the sequel, he now believes there wont be any more TOS stars in future Abrams Trek films. Details below plus full video of George’s appearance at ECCC.
George Takei resigned to no cameos in JJ Abrams Star Trek sequel(s)
Takei’s comments about the new Star Trek sequel (and the one after that) come from comments he made while appearing at Emerald City Comic Con over the weekend. Takei noted:
Leonard (Nimoy) made a cameo in the first one, and I thought they would include the still-living one of us in the subsequent ones, but I think they made a policy decision they’re going to try to get away from that confusion, and the story track of bringing an old ancient Spock back. So they don’t have any cameos for any of us in the next one, and from what I understand, should there be another J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie (beyond the one currently being filmed), it will be without any of us.
But Takei is still optimistic about JJ Abrams Star Trek, having high praise for the 2009 film (and putting in a dig at William Shatner while at it):
I thought it was a terrific movie. It really had pace, and rhythm and action, and it had to be done with a younger cast. All of that running in the corridor, I can’t imagine Bill Shatner running.
George Takei after receiving a "It’s OK To Be Takei" sash from a fan at Emerald City Comic Con
You can watch Takei’s full appearance where he is interviewed by Danny Bonaduce , available on YouTube
Thanks to firegaze1
Not to be a dick (and he was probably just answering a question), but was anybody here hoping for a Takei appearance?
If indeed the third JJ film is the last with the new cast before they reboot and it coincides with the 50 th anniversary of Trek i wish they would include the surviving original cast members in some way.
I don’t want to see anymore TOS cameos, at all. Leave well enough alone.
i agree. Let it rest. The TOS cast did their bit for the francise but their time is done
I wouldn’t mind them being in the film as background characters or (if it fits) relatives to the new cast, but there’s no reason for actual cameos. Nimoy worked because it fit the story and helped “pass the torch.” Shatner’s proposed cameo in the end that they wrote would’ve been great too. But there’s really no need now. The cast has shown, perhaps Chekov aside, that they can stand on their own.
Don’t want any stunt cameos. But they can still do a CGI animated feature. I say make the abandoned video game “Secret of Vulcan Fury” into a CGI animated feature. There’s already dialog from the original cast. Story and script by D.C. Fontana. Come on CBS. Again, great video clips from the game.
Trailers for the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQHyg6nFpAY
Listen to Shatner and Doohan’s voices for the game in this trailer. “Space, the final frontier….”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDKfX5Hwuoc
D.C. Fontana tells TrekMovie that she would like CBS to release the story to her so she can do something with it.
https://trekmovie.com/2007/08/16/dorothy-fontana-on-new-comics-new-novel-canon-ds9-ent-new-movie/
His contribution to startrek is small, and it always gets overblown.
I like Takei but forget him…let’s put Bonaduce in a role. He could be Ensign Danny. Why not Susan Dey, or Shirley Jones for that matter?
#1.
“Not to be a dick (and he was probably just answering a question) but was anybody here hoping for a Takei appearance?”
Probably about one or two people, outside of Takei himself. No more than that though.
Takei: “I can’t imagine Bill Shatner running”.
And I can’t imagine you actually being able to act!
Sheesh, at least William Shatner’s ego was born out of his ability to act, and entertain. On the other hand, I don’t know where George got his inflated ego from, apart from his apparent jealousy.
Hey Basement Blogger, I’m with you! I was always hoping they would bring the original audio from the crew of the original series back from the Vulcan Fury taping. That looked like it would have made for a great movie! And, if they still have those recordings somewhere, we could get a CGI version of the story which would look a lot more real than what they had in mind when they created the recordings.
The nice thing about a cameo in these remakes-of-movies/tv-shows, I’d argue, is that you get to see someone you haven’t seen on TV, in film in a while.
But I probably see Shatner and Takei — on TV, YouTube, in newspapers, everywhere — more than I see my parents or my neighbors.
This isn’t news.
Saying Takei isn’t going to be making an appearance in JJ’s Trek films is like announcing the Sun will rise in the morning.
Yawn.
Mr. Takei–
You were given a wonderful opportunity to finally play Hikaru Sulu as a fully realized, central character in Phase 2’s “World Enough and Time,” and you did great by the part. With all respect, you don’t need to play second fiddle to John Cho or anyone else in Paramount’s megapalooza tentpole franchise to remind fans of who embodied the role for nearly five decades. We know, and we’ll remember.
Still say they blew it big time by not doing the Shatner scene. If only there were some way to do it.
@14 Tom
I agree 100%. They missed a huge opportunity there. The scene was absolutely well written and would have been an amazing scene. They should have pitched it to Shatner anyway. Who cares if he said he wouldn’t do a cameo… I am sure if he read the scene, he would have done it. It would have been great for the movie, the fans and Bill (he would have loved stealing the movie one last time.) And, if he said no… they it would have been on Shatner. A huge missed opportunity guys. I’m talking to you, Bob Orci! ;) That one scene encapsulated Kirk to me.
Hey, George, shooting is 2/3 done. The phone would have rung in December, if at all. I’m sure there is a fan flick production somewhere if you want to strap Sulu on one more time….
15,
I dunno……..Shatner as Kirk singing Happy Birthday might have been cringe-inducing.
16.
Tch, tch, Phil…..suggesting a “strap on” to George is bad form! :>)
Harry, he did a great job with “row, row, row your boat.” :)
#17.
Shatner would have read a message written by Kirk to Spock. I don’t think they would have included the song “Happy Birthday” as the studio would have had to pay out royalties to the writer.
This reminds me of a Seth Myers “Really?”
I mean, why would anyone want to see old Sulu in a new Trek?
I hope for no past-Trek actor cameos in any new Trek movie. Nimoy was perfect and enough. Let’s move on….
Harry – they have that little blue pill for guys of George’s vintage. Save those entendres for an Ellen DeGeneres thread. NYAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA…………
Takei would now make a perfect Admiral Nogura.
.
I always suspected that Nogura’s daughter married Sulu’s father. Then it all makes sense.
.
I wish that the writers’ strike hadn’t kept Orci from writing a scene for Uhura’s mother to be played by Nichelle in Trek ’09… that could have worked, even if she was on a viewscreen checking in on her, warning her about Vulcans, and farmboys from Iowa.
#6 – I agree – do this.
Secret of Vulcan’s Fury could be like a lost episode in a way.
#12 – Or that Takei is gay. Can we just move on now from that?
If Star Trek 12 bombs (not that I harbor any schadenfreude towards the film) then you can bet there will be at least one stunt cameo for the third film, especially since it coincides with the 50th anniversary.
If it does OK, then the TOS crew can finally retire. For real.
lololol Danny Bonaduce is alive?
I think TOS was retired in a very dignified way. Nimoy’s role was short, but very enjoyable, in spite of the use of too much coincidence. He handed over the responsibility to the next generation (sorry) to continue the tradition, and he did it well. And they did very well also, seeing as how they’ve only had two hours so far to show their vision.
Takei and the rest of the cast has probably played their characters for the last time. An era has passed.
I don’t think anyone other than us and Paramount’s marketing department really cares about Trek’s 50th birthday.
And, not to be a dick yet again, I really wasn’t thrilled with that hologram scene. Sentimental, fanboy dreck. I guess I am being a dick.
@29 Jack
Yup… at you being a dick, that is. ;) I keeeed!!!!
28.
Well, yes, otherwise where do you draw the line?
In 2026, for the 60th anniversary of Trek, have Shatner and Nimoy do a cameo (having tucked their oxygen tanks and walkers aside for the moment) in the latest film at the age of 95?
Puh-lease!
Yeah, enough with the cameos. Nimoy’s part in the last film was essential to the story. Cameos with TOS crew at this point would seem silly, I think.
Thanks for the link to the ECCC video! I wasn’t able to make it this year.
#30. No it’s true. I am. No idea why I dislike that scene so much. I guess ’cause to me, it seems like it doesn’t really work as a passing of the torch (and I don’t really think the torch passing matters to most people seeing this movie, even most fans). It seems like a fannish, very-good-intentioned way to squeeze in Shatner – look, you and Kirk really will be buddies, see, hey, don’t take my word for it, look at this YouTube video he did for my, okay, our, birthday! Look, I even still have it on my phone! No, you can’t watch it later. See! Okay, this part is great. We were *that* close! You guys have to hang out more. He plays chess too you know.
;)
But I felt the same way about the McCoy/Data scene in the TNG pilot. It was cute, but just too sentimental. For the whole first couple of seasons of that show, they were too conscious of what had come before, of the shoes they had to fill, even while trying to not be TOS/have original aliens etc.
I think either it had to have had Shatner’s Kirk in a real role (and as Kirk, not as Shatner), or nothing. To bring him in at the end for a recorded “I love you Spock, we had great times together” is just a bit too gooey and takes the focus off the times/adventures they’re about to have. And, technically, it just kind of slows things down. It also really brings attention, to me as a fan, to the shitty sendoff Kirk had in Generations (the mouldering in retirement, not just the lame death), which we know will happen after this recording.
But I know scores of people disagree with me.
There’s also the small problem that Shatner and Pine look/act nothing alike and that Shatner’s so well known for being Shatner now.
$10 says he knows because he asked.
I think they should get Takei in to build a bridge. I’m sure they could always use someone to fetch tools or make coffee :-p
Hi Guys,
The proposed Shatner cameo in ST 2009 seems to have passed me by. I remember reading occasional comments about it, but is there a draft script somewhere online as people seem to know what the cameo was about? Can somone please point me towards it as I would love to read it if there is. Was anything actually filmed?
Thanks
Sorry, scratch that , found it at https://trekmovie.com/2009/11/23/read-the-star-trek-2009-scene-written-for-william-shatner/
Must have missed that one.
George was asked the question. He answered it. Stop bitching!
Haven’t seen Danny Bonaduce for a while. Didn’t he and Chris Doohan once crash Sonny Bono’s car? :-)
I’m no fan of that Kirk ‘Happy Birthday’ scene either. I am quite surprised at its, apparent, popularity.
I think they chose wisely when they left it out. It wasn’t as if the movie needed any more emotion. It was jammed with it from the opening scene’s.
Hoping for more next time too!
I’m looking forward to another reboot. Hey, the are even rebooting Halloween again, so it is time for Star Trek reboot, too.
40. Yeah, and I wasn’t meaning to slam the writers — I’d got the sense that they thought it didn’t really work.
i love the original program in fact i have just brought them on blu-ray(oh yeah they never looked so good)however i so don’t want cameos from the original actors i sort of get the first film however the new actors need to stand on there on feet and not been over looked as shatner is in it or takei
Who do I have to nag to get Secret of Vulcan Fury going as a Kickstarter? (ie. money to bribe whoever it is to hand over the recordings to someone who can use them to make a game or an animated show).
I can imagine Bill Shatner running just fine, though I seem to recall George sitting down most of the time on the Excelsior bridge…
Please bury the hatchet, guys. Or not, but stop dragging us into your feud.
#45 except when he was crawling around on Excelsiors deck. I can’t recall Kirk looking quite as pathetic as Sulu did in that shockwave scene.
Why is Takei obsessed with Shatner? I like Takei, but he was a bit player on Shatner/Nimoy’s program.
I see no problem with the original actors playing other parts- that would be nice but they would need a really good reason to bring back the characters
George Takei should be in the next Harold and Kumar movie.
I agree with Trekboi. No need to do cameos of their original characters but it would be nifty to see at least one of the actors cast in some other role…particulary if the third movie does come out on the 50th anniversary of the show.