I'm not defending his behaviour, but I am criticizing the move to leave him out in the first place. I guess I must overlook or ignore Shatners's rants more than most, as his shenanigans have never pushed me to the point of being sick of him. I will absolutely admit he can be an egocentric, possessive jerk. That's evidenced by the fit he had after Nimoy's success directing "The Search for Spock", "The Voyage Home", and others. Shatner all but forced the studio to let hiim write and direct a flick, and what we got was inarguably the worst Trek film of them all "The Final Frontier". My money was very tight when that movie premiered , and I had to count quarters to get a ticket. Still want my money back.
But that being said, i still feel that Kirk is essential to the spirit of Trek. If not, we'd never have had a young Kirk in the new movie. Even with the inadvisable death of Kirk in "Generations" (which Shatner *never* should have agreed to!) there were ways to have Kirk in the movie, even as a flashback. As for ticket sales, you know my position there. It's a good movie, but it's not pure Trek in many ways. Lots of Star Wars fans and casual scifi fans who aren't as--intense-as people like me. Lots of fans who saw the movie and then forgot about it. So I don't doubt that the movie did well. Heck, it would ahve done well without Nimoy too, but that doesnt' mean I don't think it would have benefited from his appearance. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tracey de Morsella" <tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 2:34:20 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] William Shatner set to be beamed up I like Shatner, but trying to force someone or embarrass them into doing something you want is not a good move, particularly when you have a reputation for needing to dominate on the set. Trying the turn the public against the producers is not a great way to get hired. It may have been a bad move, but the ticket sales tell a different story. I wanted him in, but after he did that, I felt if I were the producers, there would be no way I’d want him in the picture after that. I would view him as unable to control or stay on message when doing publicity. I bet they planned to put him in the sequel to humble him a little after the stunts he pulled From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Keith Johnson Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:21 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] William Shatner set to be beamed up I'll be succinct. One. It was a mistake not to include Shatner in a Trek movie. Unlike many who either don't like him, or see him as not essential to Treklore, I like Shatner fine. Star Trek was more about Shatner, I'd argue, in terms of the human quest for knowledge and enlightenment, than Spock, despite Spock's popularity. Really, they need each other, so to have one without the other? Bad move. Two. I wonder how they'll bring in Shatner in this new timeline? Makes me frustrated again at the whole alternate reality angle, which I fear I shall never fully embrace. ----- Original Message ----- From: "brent wodehouse" <brent_wodeho...@thefence.us> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 2:09:21 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] William Shatner set to be beamed up http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/2986590/William-Shatner-set-to-be-beamed-up William Shatner set to be beamed up Last updated 13:32 21/10/2009 Hollywood director JJ Abrams appears set to beam William Shatner up to the Star Trek sequel. Abrams suffered plenty of criticism from Star Trek fans when he opted not to cast Shatner, the original Captain James T Kirk of the USS Enterprise, in this year's big screen update of the iconic sci-fi film and TV series. Abrams did cast the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy. Star Trek was one of the most successful films of 2009, earning almost US$400 million (NZ$542.81m) at the worldwide box office, and with a sequel set for release in theatres in 2011, Abrams confirmed Shatner may be offered a role. "I would love to work with him," Abrams told reporters in Los Angeles at a press conference to promote the release of the Star Trek DVD. "We speak. We actually have a lunch date planned." Abrams opted to make Star Trek a prequel, winding the clock back to the early years of the Star Trek crew with young actors Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock) and Simon Pegg (Montgomery Scott) filling the lead roles. While Abrams and screenwriters Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman managed to find a way to bring Nimoy back, they opted against offering Shatner a role. The dilemma they faced is examined in The Shatner Conundrum, one of the extra features on the Star Trek DVD. "It was a foregone conclusion we wanted him in the movie," Abrams explained. "The problem was his character died on screen in one of his Trek films and because we decided, very early on, that we wanted to adhere to Trek canon as best we could ... the required machinations to get Shatner into the movie would have been very difficult to do given the story we wanted to tell and also to give him the kind of part that he would be happy with. "It was this thing where it would have felt like a gimmick in order to get Shatner in the movie, which would have honestly, to me, been distracting." The success of Abrams' Star Trek and the welcome Pine, Quinto, Pegg and other new actors received from Trekkies will make it easier to introduce Shatner into the sequel, Abrams said. "In terms of moving forward, I am open to anything," Abrams added. "I feel like the first movie did some of the heavy lifting that needed to be done in order to free us to continue going forward. Maybe there's less of a burden and there's going to be more opportunity to work with him (Shatner)." The Star Trek DVD, set for release in Australia on October 29, is filled with extras, including gag reels, three hours of bonus footage, commentary, secrets behind th e costumes and sets and deleted scenes that reveal a side story involving Eric Bana's villainous character Nero. The DVD also includes what is billed as "ground-breaking augmented reality technology" which, through a webcam, allows a 3D holographic tour of the Enterprise. Abrams said the decision to hold the world premiere for Star Trek at the Sydney Opera House in April was the perfect launch pad for the movie. "I have been to Sydney before and I loved it the first time," Abrams told AAP in a video interview. "This last time it was so surreal. First of all I had never been to the Opera House which could not have been more beautiful. "The reception was off the charts. The people were so kind. It was beautiful, maybe not atypical Sydney weather, but I called my wife and said 'We might have to move here'. "I am serious. I want to go back not just for professional reasons. I just want to go back because it is f antastic."
