Filmstalker: Shatner and Nimoy in Star Trek XI!

Here's an amazing quote from William Shatner that says J.J. Abrams and his team are definitely trying to write he and Leonard Nimoy into Star Trek XI.

According to UK IGN through TrekMovie.com, Shatner responded to the question of if he'd talked to Abrams about the film with:

"Actually, I did, and they're working very hard on a story. They seem to be going in the direction of putting in [Leonard] Nimoy and myself. But in order to do that, it's a difficult story to write. So they're in the midst of wrestling with all of that."

However he's not sure how they're going to do it and he and Nimoy are adamant it has to be something a little more than a cameo.

"But in order to entice Leonard and myself into the movie, it has to be meaningful in some way, so I don't know what they're gonna do."

I'm torn about this, the inclusion of the two actors as their characters might come off a little twee, I mean are they going to have to employ some sort of time travelling in order for them to be included, or perhaps flashbacks?

You know I would love for them to have had their era and for this new film to do what Enterprise did, and should have been allowed to continue doing.

What do you feel about this new Trek? Would you want Shatner and Nimoy back and how could you possibly see it working?

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Bring Shatner and Nimoy, and I will watch this movie fevereshly, several times, in the cinema theatre, no matter the weather.

This is going to be just so great I am pissing my pants only in thinking about it. What a geek I am, I know, but as Fry said in Futurama:

"The world needs Star Trek to give people hope for the future. But most importantly, when I didn't have any friends, it made me feel like maybe I did."

And Kirk and Spock were the best in that.

Posted by: Peter | January 7, 2007 12:10 PM

Nowhere in the interview does it specify that Shatner and Nimoy would be playing their original characters. In fact, towards the end it's pointed out that Shatner is resigned to someone else playing Kirk.

They brought back Richard Hatch in the new Battlestar Galactica series, yet someone else is playing Apollo...

That's all I have to say about that.

Posted by: ISO100 | January 7, 2007 7:11 PM

Oh I don't think they could come back as anyone else, seriously. How could you see these two actors playing someone else in Star Trek?

Sure Battlestar Galactica works with that character because there's not the cult status surrounding them that there is with Star Trek and these two.

It certainly would not work for me.

Posted by: Richard Brunton | January 7, 2007 7:31 PM

There was a time when I would have completely agreed with you about this. After the last batch of Trek films though, I'm convinced that the series really does need a restart of some kind. From what I understand, Trek XI is supposed to be that restart.

On that note, I really really want to be surprised at the results. If that means casting Nimoy and Shatner in other roles as tribute to the old series while new actors take over the iconic lead characters, so be it. The old formula just doesn't cut it anymore, and at this point I'm open to just about anything.

The Trek franchise desperately needs a new approach to draw in new fans. The old crew of Trek junkies just aren't producing the desired results at the box office anymore. It's not the fault of the fans though. It's because continuing within the established Trek universe is tantamount to flogging a dead horse.

Trying to please fanboys (like myself) is not only an exercise in futility in most cases, it's a strategy that can only work for so long if it works at all. Fanboys love to whine and will always find SOMETHING that could (or should) have been done differently. Even if we're way off base. I consider it a form of OCD. :)

So seriously, at this point they might as well do something drastic. Shake up the Trek universe and give us something we never would have expected. It will either work or it won't, but it has a better chance of succeeding than yet another predictable romp down the old beaten path.

Posted by: ISO100 | January 8, 2007 1:01 AM

ISO100 - Superb comments, and you're spot on. XI is that restart (as Enterprise was!) and as such I think should really restart it and not look to the past.

Either these two are in their original roles, or they aren't in at all and the whole series moves on. Otherwise it seems like a half attempt at breaking away and restarting.

Posted by: Richard Brunton | January 8, 2007 7:26 AM