Archived News
5/8/09
J.J. Abrams Buzzine Interview
Buzzine posted a new interview with J.J. Abrams. Relevant excerpt:
EI: Have you spoken to William Shatner? He seemed upset that he wasn't in the film.
JJA: We spoke to him in the beginning. He wanted to be in the film. He made it clear to us that he didn't want to do a cameo, which meant not only changing our story significantly but also bringing his character to life since he died. Every time we tried to figure out a version of that, it felt like we were just trying to bring a character back to life that we liked. But if we're lucky and there will be another movie, I'm sure there will be another opportunity to work with him.
5/7/09
Trekmovie.com J.J. Abrams Interview
TrekMovie.com posted a new interview with Star Trek director J.J. Abrams. Relevant excerpts:
I think the hardest decision that I felt was not having William Shatner in the
movie. And that really was because, as a non-fan, you feel like ‘you got to
have Shatner in the movie - come on!' And then I realized he had died in [Star
Trek: Generations], which I had not seen before I was working on the film,
that getting him back in the movie would literally mean starting from scratch
and coming up with a new story. And the decision to move forward, despite the
necessity given our story, and to exclude the guy that everybody associates
with the series - that bothered me. And yet I felt like we had to do this for
this movie. Talk about the wrath. I thought we are going to eat it, fans are
going to kill us. And yet the reason why I felt it might ultimately work for us
is it felt like the righteous decision. It felt like we need to do it for the
story, but the righteous decision is not always the easiest.
TrekMovie: So when you said at Comic Con 2007 that you were working hard
to find a way, you really meant that.
Abrams: No question. Why in a million years would we not want him in the
movie. It would only be better to have him in the film. But even before
everyone was talking about ‘Trek canon'. Everyone was like ‘we want you to
follow canon'. Now I know, in fact the first sequence of the movie, veers hard
left from Trek canon, but that is the point. As much as we could we wanted to
be consistent with the thread that had been established. A lot of the same
people who were saying ‘you must follow canon!' were saying ‘Shatner has got to
be in the movie!' Dude, how do you do both of these things!? We could have
created some sort of time travel detour thing, but literally when you start
going down that path, especially with Mr. Shatner saying he did not want to do
a cameo, it became this whole thing that would literally be a reinvention of
our reinvention. It is just too hard.
TrekMovie: I would have to agree after seeing the film that it wouldn't work
with this film, unless you wanted to bring up the word ‘Nexus'
Abrams: Exactly [laughs] which we were not going to do.
TrekMovie: But hey, you got the sequel...
Abrams: That's actually a possibility.
4/30/09
RadarOnline.com Shatner Interview
RadarOnline.com posted a brief interview
with Star Trek star William Shatner.
Shatner
said: "I'm delighted that there has been new blood coursing through
the veins of STAR TREK with J.J.
Abrams and his team."
"I'm sure we can look forward to many more iterations of the beloved
franchise. And who knows? Perhaps the old Kirk will meet the new
Kirk." he said.
4/26/09
IESB.net interview with J.J. Abrams.
IESB.net posted a new interview with Star Trek director J.J. Abrams. When asked why he didn’t put Shatner in the
film, Abrams responded:
“Nothing would have
made us happier than to have William Shatner in this movie. His character died
on screen, in one of the films. When we tried figure out a way to put him in,
every time we did it, it was a gimmick. Every time we figured out a way that we
thought it could work, it ended up being a gimmick, unless the whole story was
about bringing him back, and that would have changed the entire story that we
wanted to tell. So, it was either change everything or do it without him. But,
we definitely love Mr. Shatner. Working with him is something that we would
obviously be thrilled to do, and wanted to do. It just literally didn't work
for our story, and he didn't want to just do a cameo. We could have done a
flashback, but he didn't want to do that. And, if we had reinvented everything,
it would have just been crazy. And, the YouTube thing happened because I was
interviewed about it and I said, which was true, that we tried many different
ways to get him in the movie and it just didn't work. I guess he heard it and
thought that they were saying that we had tried to get him in, and called him
and were making efforts, so he did this video saying, "You didn't call
me." So, then I had to respond to that and say, "No, no, no, I don't
mean we called you. We were trying, internally, to tell a story that was worthy
of you and worthy of the audience." There was no way to do it and have it
not be a cameo, so it didn't work in this one. But, all is good.”
4/24/09
William Shatner Extra Interview
Extra posted a new interview with Star Trek star William Shatner. Relevant excerpts:
Shatner says there's no feud between him and the new cast of "Star
Trek." "I wish them all the best," he tells "Extra."
"I certainly hope it's a great success."
"There's no bad blood. It's great fun. J.J. [Abrams] and I have been jousting with
each other on the airways... we were having fun." he said.
Shatner is also reaching out to the new Kirk, actor Chris Pine, saying,
"Chris, good luck... and hold your breath. It's going to be a
whirlwind."
When asked if he plans to see the movie, Shatner said, "I will
eventually." Will he ever return in a future Star Trek sequel ? "I would love
to," he admitted. "If the movie is successful and they make another
one, never say never as James Bond... I loved 'Star Trek' in all its many
phases. I dearly would love to be a part of it."
4/23/09
Shatner Wizard Interview
Wizard posted a new interview with Star Trek star William Shatner. Relevant excerpts.
Well,
if you're going to ask [Leonard Nimoy] about anything, why not the new
"Star Trek" movie? Has he spilled any details?
Not only has he not talked to me about it, he hasn't let me think about it. I
don't know when it's coming out, I don't know what the plot is, I don't know
who's in it. I literally know nothing.
We hear you've been
calling out director J.J. Abrams in a series of online videos.
Well, I've been pulling his leg on the Web a bit. Pulling the Web over his
eyes! I believe he said something like, "I don't know when my life became
answering Shatner on the Web!" So I've just been keeping at him. He has to
call me!
Were you ever approached
to be in the film?
When they were thinking about doing the movie, they talked to me a couple of
times, I don't know what it really was all about, and then they stopped talking
to me and went their way. But you just know it's going to be wonderful because
J.J. Abrams is such a good moviemaker.
We think it's kind of
silly that they're using the excuse that you died in "Generations."
Dude, everyone on "Star Trek" died at one time or another and came
back!
Yes, including the ship! I keep thinking about amber, how they have these
insects that are trapped in this liquid for millions of years, fossilized, and
how they're talking about being able to extract DNA from them. And therein lies
the mystery of Kirk's return!
Are you seriously
bumming that you're not in the movie?
I can't understand it as a business decision. I could be talking to you about
the Bluewater comics and the movie, but I'm not in the movie, so I have nothing
to say! I just regret that I'm not a part of it. But if it's successful, then
maybe there will be a call.
4/2/09
Rumor Mill: Shatner Appearing In Star Trek XII
According to ABC Action News, Star Trek star William Shatner may
have a role in Star Trek XII,
the upcoming sequel to the new Star
Trek movie, likely to be released in 2011. Here is an excerpt of
the article.
According to the article sources, officials at Paramount Pictures are
reportedly keen to get Shatner to be in Star Trek XII.
A source tells Britain's Daily Express newspaper:
"It's
well known Bill was disappointed not to get a cameo (in the 2009 film). But now
Paramount Pictures has been given the go-ahead for a sequel and there are hopes
he'll make a brief appearance."
"It's
now felt it would be fitting finally to have Shatner back, Hopefully they can
work something out," said another source.
Just rumor, take it with a grain of salt.
3/25/09
Orci/Kurtzman Sci Fi Wire Interview
Sci Fi Wire posted a new interview with Star Trek movie writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Regarding a Shatner appearance, Kurtzman stated:
“There's been a lot of debate about that. ... We just, we really tried very hard to get him in there in a way that felt organic, but the problem was that because he died in continuity [in Star Trek: Generations], ... I think it would have felt a little bit cheap, is what we all decided. And, you know, we really struggled with it, because we wrote a scene that we really loved, and, ultimately, I think it might have felt like an add-on, you know? Whereas our story, without giving away too much, Spock [played by Leonard Nimoy] is such a critical part of the story that literally the story cannot be told without him.”
3/20/09
Shatner Absolute Radio Interview
In an interview, Shatner told Absolute Radio:
"I find it incredible [that I'm not in the new movie] but I've lived with this for a year so I've began to salve the wound. Actually I called J.J. Abrams who is producing and directing the other day and I invited him to come to the party of the Hollywood Charity Horse Show. We've had some laughs and I urged him to bring the cast of Star Trek to the movie so they may well do so."
2/26/09
Shatner IGN Interview
IGN posted a new interview with Star Trek star William Shatner. Relevant excerpt:
IGN:
Of course, we can't let you go without asking about the upcoming Star Trek film...What are your thoughts on seeing this classic series reimagined?
SHATNER: Well, first of all, I have no involvement. None whatsoever. To the point where
I have no idea what the script is about, even though Leonard is in it. He was
obligated not to tell me anything. I know nothing. As for my feelings, I regret
not being a part of that Star Trek revival. I hope it goes well. Star
Trek is a wonderful vehicle. It's unfortunate that I'm not in it, in that I
could have lent my own persona and publicity and my help to make it successful.
But I'm not involved one iota!
1/15/09
J.J. Abrams Sci Fi Wire Interview
Sci Fi Wire posted a new interview with Star Trek director J.J. Abrams. Relevant excerpt:
Regarding William Shatner,
Abrams said "I was quoted as saying we tried to get him in the movie. What
I meant was we were trying internally to find a way to take a dead character
and resurrect him without it seeming lame. We couldn't figure out a way to do
it. I think that when I said we tried to get him into the movie, he read it as
if we were trying to call him. I would not have wasted his time with a bad
idea."
11/08/08
Shatner in Star Trek Magazine
The September/October issue
of Star Trek Magazine features an
interview with William
Shatner and here are more excerpts.
Regarding
the new Star Trek movie, Shatner said "I had a couple of meetings with J.J. Abrams, but I
dont know what those meetings were about when I look back. I have no idea what
they were about. And so I have no connection with the film whatsoever. It's the
strangest thing. Even my dear friend Leonard [Nimoy]
won't tell me what it's about. He clams up. I think perhaps there's an
explosive charge in his head, that Abrams put in there, and should he say the
words 'Star Trek' it goes off. And he thinks it's a migraine, but it's really his
death."