J.J. Abrams Admits to Being too Stupid to Make Star Trek XI!

[Samuel T. Cogley]

From this interview:

http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2008/09/jj-abrams-interview.php

It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn't quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn't want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It's funny -- a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that.

(Emphasis mine)

Well, there you have it folks. The writers weren't smart enough to make this movie. We've known it all along, but now Abrams confirms it.

This is no doubt an attempt to distance himself from the project before it gets released next Summer.

This also confirms reports that the movie was pushed back from its original December '08 release date while the writing staff took college extension classes, hoping desperately to get smarter in time to save this movie.

Well, it must not have worked.

No wonder Shatner passed.

It seems unlikely that an actor of Shatner's calibre would be willing to speak lines like: "Me am KiRK. ME am BAck fROM dead. SURPRISE!"

Good on you, Shatner. That was a close one.

Maybe the next movie will be written by a group of people who are truly smart and talented. Like the fans.

We can only hope.

 

[Jax]

FAIL

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It seems unlikely that an actor of Shatner's calibre would be willing to speak lines like: "Me am KiRK. ME am BAck fROM dead. SURPRISE!"

Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!

 

[Mordock]

They didn't want to rearrange their film to accommodate Shatner's ego? I don't know, they sound pretty smart to me...

 

[EyalM]

I can't help but feel that last bit was directed at the Shatner fans.

Any way, this settles the Shatner issue:
They had a part for him. He said no. case closed.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

FAIL

I know MattJC will be with me on this issue.

He never lets me down.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

He never lets me down.

Coincidentally, that was the text of Hunter S. Thompson's dedication of "The Great Shark Hunt" to Richard M. Nixon.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

He never lets me down.

Coincidentally, that was the text of Hunter S. Thompson's dedication of "The Great Shark Hunt" to Richard M. Nixon.

 

[T'Cal]

"We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly..."

Big surprise here...

 

[Saga]

the only thing i see being stated is Abrams confessing that he and the writers could not figure out a way to make Kirk fit into the film and it not be forced or campy. sounds like he also didn't want to deal with Shatner's ego and make changes to the film.

 

[David cgc]

I'm really starting to get a Starbuck-is-really-dead vibe off of this, at this point. Maybe everyone in the media just loved Shatner so much that they continuously bring up the possibility of a cameo when talking about XI, but I'm not sure about that.

 

[darkshadow0001]

Even if his character didn't die onscreen, wouldn't his character be too old?

Whose to say that traveling through the Nexus would of kept him alive anyway.

 

[Swarles Barkley]

All they needed to do was fire an inverse-phased chroniton pulse at the script. Everyone knows that.

 

[Saga]

All they needed to do was fire an inverse-phased chroniton pulse at the script. Everyone knows that.

lol.

 

[Bad Bishop]

Even if his character didn't die onscreen, wouldn't his character be too old?

Not to mention tubby?

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

Makes me wish Berman and Braga hadn't been outside of Paramount's price range.

 

[CoveTom]

In all seriousness, I think Abrams has a point here. You could easily write a cameo for Shatner that worked within the established canon. As many have pointed out here, this is a time travel movie and the timeline could be changed, with a now living Kirk appearing at the end. But if Shatner insisted that his part not be a cameo, but integral to the entire storyline, I just don't see how you could make that work, short of making the movie the story of Kirk's resurrection. Which is not the story they set out to tell.

 

[Starbreaker]

All they needed to do was fire an inverse-phased chroniton pulse at the script. Everyone knows that.

lol.

Are you actually laughing out loud??

 

[darkshadow0001]

From this interview:

http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2008/09/jj-abrams-interview.php

It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn't quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn't want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It's funny -- a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that.

(Emphasis mine)

Well, there you have it folks. The writers weren't smart enough to make this movie. We've known it all along, but now Abrams confirms it.

This is no doubt an attempt to distance himself from the project before it gets released next Summer.

This also confirms reports that the movie was pushed back from its original December '08 release date while the writing staff took college extension classes, hoping desperately to get smarter in time to save this movie.

Well, it must not have worked.

No wonder Shatner passed.

It seems unlikely that an actor of Shatner's calibre would be willing to speak lines like: "Me am KiRK. ME am BAck fROM dead. SURPRISE!"

Good on you, Shatner. That was a close one.

Maybe the next movie will be written by a group of people who are truly smart and talented. Like the fans.

We can only hope.

Dude, are you purposely trying to condone this movie to a utterly complete failure before it is even intrudoced? I realize you are responding to something so it's not totally on you, but, come on... we never know, this could be a good film! Yes, it's too bad Shatner didn't get a chance to play in this film, but it's not Abrams fault, it's more or less Star Trek:Generation's fault.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I can't tell who's serious or not in this thread (except Sam of course...).