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Shatner whining a decoy?

OphaClyde said:
You just posted on the board a link from Hollywood.com an article about the upcoming Trek movie, and I quote:

At last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con Abrams told a crowd of fans that he held high hopes that they new film would also feature William Shatner reprising his role as Captain Kirk (despite the fact Kirk was killed off in the seventh feature film, 1994’s Generations).

"There are still ongoing talks," reported Lindelof. "We're pretty much exactly where we were with Comic Con … Look, the reality is Trek was up and running and in existence and iconic before we came so we've been basically invited to the party that these guys have been throwing for the last 40 years, so obviously it would be HUGE if Mr. Shatner wanted to be any part of the franchise. It's a challenge for us, though, because they killed Kirk off … But hey, it's Trek, anything's possible, right?

That doesn't sound like the final nail is in the coffin to keep Shatner out of the movie. Sounds like they REALLY would want him to have a part! So Shatner's on one end spinning his yarns keeping Trek on the public's mind, and the producers are on the other saying they'd LOVE to have him in the movie. Sounds like a great PR campaign to me.

And WHY NOT keep Shatner's involvement in Trek a secret? It would also be a great casting coup, having everyone believe Shatner's not in the movie, based on Shatner's own words, then have him show up a la Patrick Duffy/Suzaane Pleshette in the final scenes. It would make for great buzz after the movie opens and might even give Trek an unheard of better second weekend box office than the first!

Oh yeah, YOU'D rather just think of him as a bitter Joan Crawford type: "No... Wire... Hangers!" WHAP!

Given the WGA strike status - IF talks are 'continuing'; they either must have a scene in the finished script with 'old kirk' in it - OR they are just blowing smoke as no script re-writes (except for actor ad-libs here and there; and the WGA would not believe - "Oh yaeh, William Shatner showed up on set and we totally ad-libed an entire sequence with him that just happened to fit the rest of the script).

Unless the WGA strike ends while principle photography is still being shot; I seriously doubt William Shatner will get a 'Kirk' bit - the best they could do at this point would be to have him walking around in the background of a shot or something.

Bottom line: Either this is all a big (andd honestly badly played out publicity stunt; and 'old' captain Kirk with Shatner in teh role has been part of the finalized script since before the WGA and William Shatner is signed on); or William Shatner is NOT in the film (as he has been claiming to anyone who'll listen); and is unhappy to some degree (depending on which reports you want to believe) about that fact.
 
Avilos said:
Another fallacy of this "Shatner Whining = Publicity = Shanter in Trek XI" is only WE are paying attention! Only Fan aimed websites and media are covering these comments. What is the point of concocting a phony negative marketing campaign aimed at the audience that is going to see the movie no matter what??? That whole line of reasoning is BS!
The media isn't covering Shatner's comments now, but by the time the movie comes out if he's still running around saying "it sucks, I'm not in it" it will be a bigger deal.
 
Beyerstein said:
Avilos said:
Another fallacy of this "Shatner Whining = Publicity = Shanter in Trek XI" is only WE are paying attention! Only Fan aimed websites and media are covering these comments. What is the point of concocting a phony negative marketing campaign aimed at the audience that is going to see the movie no matter what??? That whole line of reasoning is BS!
The media isn't covering Shatner's comments now, but by the time the movie comes out if he's still running around saying "it sucks, I'm not in it" it will be a bigger deal.

^^^
Only for the people that actually care that William Shatner isn't in it.
 
Beyerstein said:
The media isn't covering Shatner's comments now, but by the time the movie comes out if he's still running around saying "it sucks, I'm not in it" it will be a bigger deal.

Nope - if he keeps up this "Why aren't I in it" for a solid year (and there's no reason to think he'll do anything that silly) he'll have become nothing more than a punchline for Jay Leno.
 
The recasting of Kirk is pretty controversial.

People will be asking the original Kirk's thoughts on the new one, especially if the movie is a big hit.

and like was said only Only Fan aimed websites care about what he's doing the past year, the real media will listen once the movie comes out.

i mean, it wont be a huge deal but there's definitely a story if the new Trek Movie with a new Kirk doesn't have Shatner's endorsement.

and he would be a good spokesperson for the film if he did have at least a small role. Shatner appearing as Kirk again would be a pretty big deal.
 
Not really. Nimoy is in the film and has already given its blessing. Shatner whining is aleady in the media nd most of the media has dimissed this as Shatner being a big, bitter joke. The recasting of Kirk is only controversial to the those fundamentalist Trekkies who are going to bitch about the film being made anyway, if this forum is any indication.
 
VOODOOXI said:
The producers of this film don't want Shatner bad mouthing it.

Exactly, which is why the recurrent speculations about his remarks being part of a "viral marketing campaign" are silly.

That said, once the film is released nothing Shatner or anyone else associated with Trek has to say either good or bad will have any effect on the box office at all. Only the movie itself will matter.
 
North Pole-aris said:
VOODOOXI said:
The producers of this film don't want Shatner bad mouthing it.

Exactly, which is why the recurrent speculations about his remarks being part of a "viral marketing campaign" are silly.

That said, once the film is released nothing Shatner or anyone else associated with Trek has to say either good or bad will have any effect on the box office at all. Only the movie itself will matter.

Which is exactly what happened in 1987 once Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered. All the criticism from the original cast before the show hit went by the wayside and was soon forgotten.
 
Colonel Green said:
ncc74302 said:
Paul McGillion wasn't cast in the role he wanted, and he's actually being very respectful and professional in all the interviews I've seen.

That isn't really a fair comparison. McGillion is young and has his career to think of. The last thing he would want to to be labelled as difficult or a whiner.

Shatner on the other hand has nothing to lose. He's already world famous and the star of a hit show. Not to mention that he's got one foot in the grave.

So basically what you're saying is that being an older, more experienced famous actor gives you the right to be an immature, unprofessional whiny baby? Doesn't seem right to me.
 
Re: Shatner whining a decoy? *DELETED*

Santa T. Claus said:
Santa T. Claus said:
Santa T. Claus said:
North Pole-aris said:
I think this is where we start awarding groundhogs. Where's Santa T. Claus/Samuel T. Cogley? I'm thinkin' three groundhogs.

I think this guy's on to something.

I think this guy's on to something.

I think this guy's on to something.

Or at least on something.
 
Re: Shatner whining a decoy? *DELETED*

^ Yea, there we go ! ^

He took too much LDS in Berkley in the 1970's ;)
 
I hate to admit it,but I think Dennis is correct in everything he has said.

I believe Orci + the others when they say that as of this moment Shatner is not in the film, but they are still trying (although if they really wanted him they would have found a way from the start) to find a way to get him in.

I also believe Shatner when he says he has not been asked to participate in the film.

I still think there is a 50/50 chance Shatner gets in the film. If it happens it won't be until late in the production (March when Nimoy returns to finish his scenes)and it would be in a small cameo role that would have either have a very large impact on the film (think Nimoy in ST III) or a very minor impact (one would think if he was needed for a significant role he would have been signed by now)on the film.

I think there is about a 2% chance that Shatner is already signed + is playing stupid. I take him at face value when he says he is not in the film.

Lets keep our fingers crossed. This film will feel incomplete without Shater imho.
 
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