I don't know if this has changed over the years but, as of a few years ago at least, there seemed to be some disagreement between William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy about the true reasons and background behind the creation of the Spock death scene in TWOK
To summarize:
Nimoy's story: After TMP Nimoy had decided he was done playing Spock and wanted to move on to other things. This is not hard to believe at all since Nimoy had spent the past decade talking openly about the fact he was somewhat resentful about being known as "Just Spock" when he felt he was much more deep as an artist. This of culminated with the publication of his book "I am not Spock." According to Nimoy he had absolutely no intention of changing his mind until Nick Meyer approached him with the idea of doing a death scene. This intrigued Nimoy very much because of the dramatic element, the fact he could kill off Spock for good and not be pressured into playing him again at a later date.
Nimoy also felt that, based on the lackluster performance of TMP, the fact that Roddenberry had been effectively fired and replaced with non Trek people, and the major budget restrictions Paramount had put on the film, that there was pretty much no way the film would be a hit, at least not a big enough hit to justify continuing the film series. So Nimoy felt TWOK was going to be ST's swan song and what better way to have Spock go out.
But, lo and behold, Nimoy claims that he was actually extremely surprised by how much he enjoyed the experience of making TWOK. He liked Bennett and Meyer, he felt the story was extremely well done and that this thing might have a chance to be a big enough hit to continue the film series after all and he had effectively locked himself out of any ST future films.
So based on his experience making the film and his belief that this thing could be strong enough to keep the series going, Nimoy had a change of heart and asked if they could keep a window open for Spock to possibly return, which led to the addition of the "Remember" scene and the shot of the photon tube landing on Genesis intact. The whole fact he ended up directing "TSFS" was just something he had had expressed interest in doing and by happy circumstance it was possible.
Shatner OTOH has told a somewhat different story over the years.
He doesn't seem to dispute that Nimoy was somewhat sick of playing Spock and wouldn't have minded if the series ended with TWOK. But, he seems to think Nimoy never intended to purposely kill off Spock for good, like Nimoy claims like his original intent was, should the series continue and basically from the outset "conspired" with Meyer and Bennett to give Nimoy an opportunity to return should there be a Star Trek III and beyond. So Shatner seems to believe that Nimoy was playing both ends. If the series ended with TWOK Nimoy gets a great death scene but if the film was successful enough to continue then he left himself an opportunity to return and reap any benefits.
Shatner backs this up by saying he had absolutely zero knowledge of the "Remember" sequence until he saw a rough cut screening of the film and, when he saw it, he was totally baffled because he believes (with some justification) that in a scene like the Genesis countdown basically every second of film is precious and there's no room for anything superfluous or you risk ruining the tension and drama of the scene. So his reaction upon seeing the meld with McCoy was basically "What the hell is that all about and what's it doing in this scene." and he only realized later the significance of why it was added.
Shatner also seems to believe that it was done on purpose by Nimoy as a negotiation tactic should the films continue. He suspects Nimoy felt a lot earlier then he let on that TWOK might very well be a big success and, should the films continue, Paramount would bend over backwards to appease Nimoy to the point where he would agree to play Spock again, especially if TWOK had left an obvious opening for Spock to return as opposed to a more final ending that didn't seem to be reversible, at least not as conveniently as it was in TSFS.
I don't remember Shatner ever specifically saying what he thought Nimoy's demands would be......but it's not hard to imagine Nimoy saying to Paramount once TWOK was a hit "Well if you want Spock to return.....I'm VERY interested in the director's chair" which, of course, was made even more possible by Meyer not returning.
I know the knee jerk reaction would mostly be: Shatner's full of shit. But, before picking a side, consider the following:
1. Yes Shatner can, how shall I say it? pile it on at times but, if you look at it closely, he does seem to have some evidence backing up his theory, claiming he didn't know about the remember sequence or the photon tube shot being added in.
2. Nimoy was a very clever guy and a guy who could be demanding in what he wanted. He had been very vocal in his issues with Spock for a while and, if he thought TWOK would be a big enough hit, I think he was shrewd enough to realize he'd be in a great bargaining position for the next film if Paramount had any hopes of getting him to play Spock again. So it may not have been as simple as the "change of heart" story he told.
3. It's a popular misconception that Nimoy had it in his contract that Spock be killed off and not return (So much so Michael Eisner believed it and brought it up when Nimoy asked about directing), when that was never the case. Nimoy probably COULD have had it put in his contract if he was so adamant about not wanting to play Spock again regardless of what TWOK did, but he didn't...........That kind of raises an eyebrow.
Honestly I don't know if Nimoy's "Was intending to end it all, but had a change of heart" tale is closer to the truth and Shatner's is just sour grapes or if perhaps Shatner was able to channel his inner Sherlock Holmes in this case and figure out that Nimoy's decision to kill off Spock was actually very calculated with an eye on possible future benefits.
Either way sure does make for an interesting discussion.
To summarize:
Nimoy's story: After TMP Nimoy had decided he was done playing Spock and wanted to move on to other things. This is not hard to believe at all since Nimoy had spent the past decade talking openly about the fact he was somewhat resentful about being known as "Just Spock" when he felt he was much more deep as an artist. This of culminated with the publication of his book "I am not Spock." According to Nimoy he had absolutely no intention of changing his mind until Nick Meyer approached him with the idea of doing a death scene. This intrigued Nimoy very much because of the dramatic element, the fact he could kill off Spock for good and not be pressured into playing him again at a later date.
Nimoy also felt that, based on the lackluster performance of TMP, the fact that Roddenberry had been effectively fired and replaced with non Trek people, and the major budget restrictions Paramount had put on the film, that there was pretty much no way the film would be a hit, at least not a big enough hit to justify continuing the film series. So Nimoy felt TWOK was going to be ST's swan song and what better way to have Spock go out.
But, lo and behold, Nimoy claims that he was actually extremely surprised by how much he enjoyed the experience of making TWOK. He liked Bennett and Meyer, he felt the story was extremely well done and that this thing might have a chance to be a big enough hit to continue the film series after all and he had effectively locked himself out of any ST future films.
So based on his experience making the film and his belief that this thing could be strong enough to keep the series going, Nimoy had a change of heart and asked if they could keep a window open for Spock to possibly return, which led to the addition of the "Remember" scene and the shot of the photon tube landing on Genesis intact. The whole fact he ended up directing "TSFS" was just something he had had expressed interest in doing and by happy circumstance it was possible.
Shatner OTOH has told a somewhat different story over the years.
He doesn't seem to dispute that Nimoy was somewhat sick of playing Spock and wouldn't have minded if the series ended with TWOK. But, he seems to think Nimoy never intended to purposely kill off Spock for good, like Nimoy claims like his original intent was, should the series continue and basically from the outset "conspired" with Meyer and Bennett to give Nimoy an opportunity to return should there be a Star Trek III and beyond. So Shatner seems to believe that Nimoy was playing both ends. If the series ended with TWOK Nimoy gets a great death scene but if the film was successful enough to continue then he left himself an opportunity to return and reap any benefits.
Shatner backs this up by saying he had absolutely zero knowledge of the "Remember" sequence until he saw a rough cut screening of the film and, when he saw it, he was totally baffled because he believes (with some justification) that in a scene like the Genesis countdown basically every second of film is precious and there's no room for anything superfluous or you risk ruining the tension and drama of the scene. So his reaction upon seeing the meld with McCoy was basically "What the hell is that all about and what's it doing in this scene." and he only realized later the significance of why it was added.
Shatner also seems to believe that it was done on purpose by Nimoy as a negotiation tactic should the films continue. He suspects Nimoy felt a lot earlier then he let on that TWOK might very well be a big success and, should the films continue, Paramount would bend over backwards to appease Nimoy to the point where he would agree to play Spock again, especially if TWOK had left an obvious opening for Spock to return as opposed to a more final ending that didn't seem to be reversible, at least not as conveniently as it was in TSFS.
I don't remember Shatner ever specifically saying what he thought Nimoy's demands would be......but it's not hard to imagine Nimoy saying to Paramount once TWOK was a hit "Well if you want Spock to return.....I'm VERY interested in the director's chair" which, of course, was made even more possible by Meyer not returning.
I know the knee jerk reaction would mostly be: Shatner's full of shit. But, before picking a side, consider the following:
1. Yes Shatner can, how shall I say it? pile it on at times but, if you look at it closely, he does seem to have some evidence backing up his theory, claiming he didn't know about the remember sequence or the photon tube shot being added in.
2. Nimoy was a very clever guy and a guy who could be demanding in what he wanted. He had been very vocal in his issues with Spock for a while and, if he thought TWOK would be a big enough hit, I think he was shrewd enough to realize he'd be in a great bargaining position for the next film if Paramount had any hopes of getting him to play Spock again. So it may not have been as simple as the "change of heart" story he told.
3. It's a popular misconception that Nimoy had it in his contract that Spock be killed off and not return (So much so Michael Eisner believed it and brought it up when Nimoy asked about directing), when that was never the case. Nimoy probably COULD have had it put in his contract if he was so adamant about not wanting to play Spock again regardless of what TWOK did, but he didn't...........That kind of raises an eyebrow.
Honestly I don't know if Nimoy's "Was intending to end it all, but had a change of heart" tale is closer to the truth and Shatner's is just sour grapes or if perhaps Shatner was able to channel his inner Sherlock Holmes in this case and figure out that Nimoy's decision to kill off Spock was actually very calculated with an eye on possible future benefits.
Either way sure does make for an interesting discussion.
