Latest News
7/9/15
Comic-Con: Shatner Addresses Star Trek 3 Rumors
At Comic-Con, when questioned if he would appear in Star Trek Beyond, Shatner told an audience member:
"Am I in the next movie? Tell me!"
An article on this can be found at The Hollywood Reporter HERE.
5/27/15
Simon Pegg Discusses Whether Shatner Will Appear In Star Trek Beyond
Digital Spy interviewed Simon Pegg, who is writing and will reprise his role as Scotty in the new Star Trek film, titled Star Trek Beyond. When asked if Shatner will appear in the film, Pegg had this to say:
"William Shatner is an amazing actor, and has such an incredible body of work which transcends his time as Captain Kirk... It's always about whether the stories right. It's pointless crowbarring these things in as a gimmick. That does the story and the film a disservice. I have no doubt in my mind that he could play Captain Kirk until the day he goes off to the final frontier."
You can see the interview on Youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViBJUZP3MuM
2/27/15
Leonard Nimoy Has Passed Away (Updated)
Leonard Nimoy, best known for his role of Mr. Spock on "Star Trek," died Friday at his home. He was 83.
William Shatner, who was Nimoy's best friend for decades, was unable to attend the funeral in Los Angeles due to a commitment to a Red Cross charity fundraiser in Florida. His daughters took his place at the Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary, and Shatner gave a speech about his friend at the fundraiser. He was able to make it back to LA two and half hours after the private service.
On his Facebook page, Shatner wrote:
"I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love."
2/11/15
Shatner States He Does Not Know Now If He Will Appear In Star Trek 3
On Dish Nation, after Robert Orci was no longer involved as Director of Star Trek 3, William Shatner stated the following in regards to the film:
"I know nothing. You know more about it than I do [...] I don’t even know the guy who’s writing it. I know the director was let go, someone else was writing it…I have no prior knowledge. I am completely in the blind. I sincerely mean no one has talked to me about anything, nor should they."
The article is here.
10/6/14
Shatner Clarifies an Interesting Tweet
On Twitter, William Shatner tweeted the following:
"I'm baaaaccckk!!!"
Some people speculated that this meant Shatner was implying that he was back in the Trek franchise. Upon realizing this, Shatner deleted the tweet, and posted a clarification: That he meant "I'm baaaccck in LA" after returning from London.
The Hollywood Reporter has an article on this here.
10/6/14
RUMOR: Shatner May Be Playing Older Version of Chris Pine's Kirk
Badass Digest, the same source that first revealed that Shatner and Nimoy would both be involved in the next Trek film, has revealed what appears to be new information on how they will appear in the film:
"My sources are now telling me that not only will Shatner be in the movie, his scene will have him meeting Chris Pine. Also in that scene: Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy. But if my sources are steering me correct this won't be original timeline Spock - it'll be future alt-timeline Kirk and Spock. Basically the scene will have Kirk and Spock interacting with their future selves."
Keep in mind this is still rumor, and a lot can happen between now and the release of the film. The full article can be found here.
9/29/14
Shatner Buzz Widespread, and AVGN Chimes in
Trekmovie.com gave a sampling of the immediate mainstream media reporting that happened when William Shatner spoke about the possibility of his involvement in the next Star Trek film:
"Bill’s comments [...] have been reported at Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo, E Online, Empire, The Wrap, Salon, USA Today and other newspapers (like the Philadelphia Inquirer) and even overseas in Ireland, the UK, and elsewhere."
The full article can be found here.
As usual, even brief discussion of the possibility of Shatner returning as Kirk generates incredible media buzz. No surprise there!
Also, internet celebrity James Rolfe (aka The Angry Video Game Nerd) is a BBKer! He fully supports the idea of bringing back Shatner as Kirk (even reversing his death), and even offers a Top Ten list of ways it could be done!
Some of the ideas are obviously tongue-in-cheek, but the video of the Top Ten list is still fun to watch! Have a look here:
Top Ten Ways Shatner Could Return in Star Trek 3!
9/29/14
Shatner Has Been Contacted a Second Time Regarding Involvement in Next Trek Film
William Shatner told MailOnline.com:
"Here's my dilemma, I was cautioned not to speak about this and the next day it was out all over Twitter [...] So I talked about it and then I get another phone call telling me to keep quiet again! All I can say is that I'm very excited about the film."
The article can be found here.
9/27/14
CONFIRMED: Shatner Was Contacted by Abrams Regarding Involvement in Next Trek Film
William Shatner confirmed at the Wizard World Comic Con in Nashville that approximately two weeks ago, J.J. Abrams had called him, asking if he was interested in being involved in the next Trek movie, because the new director [Bob Orci] had ideas regarding his involvement.
Shatner stated this was supposed to be kept secret, but now the story has leaked out.
Shatner also stated he would love to be involved, but it would depend on what they do with the character.
An article regarding this revelation, including a video clip from the Con, is available at Trekmovie.com here.
9/22/14
RUMOR: Nimoy and Shatner May Appear in Next Trek Film
According to Devin Faraci at the website Bad Ass Digest, a scene has been written in the next Star Trek film that will feature both Nimoy and Shatner together as Spock and Kirk.
This rumor has not been confirmed. Please take with a grain of salt.
The article is here.
10/2/13
Shatner on Kirk’s Death and Abrams
RollingStone posted a new interview with William Shatner and here is an excerpt:
It's a shame that hasn't been a Star Trek TV show for the past
few years.
That's because they're making the movies.
They could do both.
I suppose. That idea has been bandied about. I'm sure something
will come along soon.
Did you mind they didn't include you in the past movies?
Well, I said to [Leonard] Nimoy, "You know you're old when you go back in
time and you'ee still old." I don't know how they'd handle the aged
captains.
Do you regret killing off Captain Kirk?
Well, it wasn't my choice. Although, I wrote a series of
books where the character goes on, followed by autobiographical things that
happened to me, I foisted on the fictional character.
Do you think the new Star Wars movies are going to be
good?
Yes. J.J. is a wonderful director.
2/25/13
Shatner Returns as Captain Kirk at the Oscars
Actor/director William Shatner made an appearance at the 85th annual Oscar Awards. Shatner was back as Captain James T. Kirk from the Original Series in a large screen.
Shatner told Oscars host Seth MacFarlane “I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards.”
You can watch the video at Mediaite and ABC.Go.com
1/03/13
Shatner States He is NOT
Appearing in “Star Trek Into Darkness”
San Antonio Express also posted an
interview with Shatner and here is an excerpt.
Oh, and before you ask: Shatner’s not in this year’s “Star Trek Into Darkness.”
“I don’t think that ['Darkness' director] J.J. Abrams knows what to do with me,” Shatner says. “Age and change in body shape.”
The interview is here.
10/22/12
Shatner on Pine and Willingness to Appear in Another Trek Film
StarTrek.com posted extensive
reports and photos from the Star Trek Destination London convention
event and here is an excerpt from the Day
3 report featuring William
Shatner alone on stage.
The subject of “Star Trek (2009)” came up and Shatner
wasn’t without comment.
On Chris Pine as Kirk: “He’s a wonderful leading man,” Shatner stated. “He has the looks, body, the talent. He makes a wonderful Kirk; I’m so happy he got the job.”
How about Nimoy’s appearance? “You know you’re old when you go back in time and… you’re still old.”
How about Shatner in a J.J. Abrams Trek adventure? “I would love to be in a movie with J.J.,” he responded. “He has given us a ride. He has made Star Trek commercial. But those big movies for an actor are really boring (due to FX demands)… and they take forever. I don’t know that I can afford the time.”
9/11/12
Malcolm McDowell Disappointed with Kirk's Death
Metro posted an interview with actor Malcolm McDowell, who played Soran in Star Trek Generations,
and here are excerpts.
McDowell
said in a telephone interview from California with The Canadian Press. “[Kirk's
death] was sad, really. Honestly, the producers should have given him a much
better sendoff than they did.”
“The truth is, that’s what happened. They should have given him a glorious death. If they’re going to kill one of the icons of American television, then get rid of him in a beautiful way. I was very disappointed that they didn’t come up with something a little better.”
McDowell described Montreal-born Shatner and his co-star Leonard Nimoy as charismatic actors who kept the “Star Trek” franchise alive, something he believes should have been acknowledged.
“We shot it twice,” McDowell said of Kirk’s death scene. “It was feeble, I thought, because I thought he deserved better.”
The full interview is here
7/12/12
Shatner discusses Generations and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Films
Crave Online posted a new interview with William Shatner and here are excerpts:
After all these years are you satisfied with the way Captain Kirk’s story ended in Star Trek Generations?
No, no, I would have done something else. It was all against me. The studio wanted to try The Next Generation to see if they could break through this $100 million [ceiling.] It seemed that an audience was coming, they could count on an audience and a box office of $100 million but they thought that the “Next Generation” cast would bring in more, and it didn’t. They were stuck with the same $100 million or thereabouts. I wish that there had been more trumpets for the death of the character.
But you were still willing to shoot the scenes for the movie?
Well, I had no choice. This was the way it was going to be: either do it or we’ll say you died.
Would you have really wanted to be revived in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek?
How much fun it would’ve been to be in a J.J. Abrams movie playing with a whole new imagination about what this character would have done. I wrote several novels about the way I thought Captain Kirk would’ve lived in a series of books that I did. So I wrote several autobiographical novels about it.
Is there any chance you can be in the next or a future Star Trek?
Well, I would love to. I don’t know how he would deal with the aging face and body. That’s a conundrum for science fiction, how to deal with the aging me out there in space. How did I age? I think it’s insoluble.
1/31/12
Roberto Orci Wanted Shatner in Star Trek XI
On a recent Trekmovie.com message board, Star Trek XI co-writer Roberto Orci stated:
“In Trek 09, I do wish we could’ve more effectively dealt with Nero’s time in the movie. I feared we might have to cut his jail time, and we had other options we were thinking about, but at the time, what we wrote and shot seemed like the best fit.
I wish we could’ve made more of the Kobayashi Maru test, and how he cheated exactly. In a perfect world where everyone would sit through a 3 hour star Trek, I wanted to see him and bones sneak into the simulator control room the night before or something. Kind of a mini-mission at the academy.
We had some cool lines from Spock Prime about quantum mechanics that explained the seeming coincidences better through science wish I wish we had kept.
And of course, last, but not least, I wish he had gotten William Shatner to do the scene we wrote for him.”