William Shatner Confirms Talks for Star Trek Return at 93 Years Old

[fireproof78]

For example, what does the Enterprise-J have to do with any of this?

It doesn't and isn't directly referenced. This short is well done because it's open to the viewer's interpretation.

 

[VSAFaculty]

All of this Picard/OTOY/STD/Abrams Trek stuff reads like really, REALLY bad fanfic, and I know bad fanfic, as I've been a Trek fan for over forty years.

William Shatner is a personal hero of mine and James T. Kirk is my favorite character in all of science fiction, but I don't want to see Kirk's return if it's anywhere near as messy and convoluted as what's being discussed in this thread. I guess it ultimately doesn't matter since in my head canon, Kirk didn't get trapped in the Nexus and Scotty didn't get stuck in a transporter beam for almost eighty years. Both are truly awful fates for two legendary characters.

I’ve been a fan for over 50 years and agree with almost everything you say. My only caveat is that I love a lot of what OTOY has done. As Dukhat says above, Unification gives you the opportunity to make of it what you will. For me, it provided a kind of closure for Kirk and Spock, and Bill and Leonard, and it was wonderful to see two characters - who have meant so much to me - brought back to life.

 

[kkt]

Well, if by 'those guys,' you mean Paramount, then I would agree with you. Because they were the ones who came up with the laundry list of stuff that they forced on Berman, Braga and Moore for this film, which culminated in the convoluted mess we ended up getting. I'm not trying to be a Berman apologist, but in this case his hands were tied.

He could have walked away.

 

[Whizkid]

I always thought the ENT pitch for him playing MU Kirk, "Tiberius" was the best way to feature him. Just don't even deal with the headache of bringing back our Kirk and making up excuses for his age.

And hopefully if this does happen it doesn't work in a way that screws with the OTOY Unification short.

Leonard Nimoy is dead. No-one cares about Bill Shat or even Pat (best actor ever) ... Ultimately, there is/are Data!

 

[137th Gebirg]

 

[Dukhat]

He could have walked away.

Nobody walks away from money.

 

[kkt]

Nobody walks away from money.

Sure they do, if the damage to their reputation would be more than the money is worth.

(Take William Shatner, for example. No more starving 1960s actor living on fruit salad, so he can walk away from acting in a nonstarring role.)

 

[Dukhat]

Sure they do, if the damage to their reputation would be more than the money is worth.

(Take William Shatner, for example. No more starving 1960s actor living on fruit salad, so he can walk away from acting in a nonstarring role.)

This is Rick Berman we're talking about. He was the showrunner for all Star Trek in the 90's, and he wasn't going to walk away from a job as executive producer for the first TNG feature film.

 

[Riley]

I'm sorry, but the defense "it can be whatever you want it be" is incredibly weak and is often used to distract from a lack of imagination or creative commitment. I have no doubt Paramount stifles a lot of creativity in terms of what can and can't be done with Trek, so I'll give OTOY that.

 

[Dukhat]

I'm sorry, but the defense "it can be whatever you want it be" is incredibly weak and is often used to distract from a lack of imagination or creative commitment.

Yes, I will grant you that kind of trope is usually a cop-out (the final episode of "The Man In the High Castle" springs immediately to mind.) But I get the feeling that this was not OTOY's intention. I personally thought it was quite creative and imaginative.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm sorry, but the defense "it can be whatever you want it be" is incredibly weak and is often used to distract from a lack of imagination or creative commitment. I have no doubt Paramount stifles a lot of creativity in terms of what can and can't be done with Trek, so I'll give OTOY that.

It was meant as a tribute. The "it's whatever you want it to be" refers to the mechanism by which Kirk and Spock are reunited. But, that doesn't need a black and white answer to be moving.

 

[The Wormhole]

Sure they do, if the damage to their reputation would be more than the money is worth.

(Take William Shatner, for example. No more starving 1960s actor living on fruit salad, so he can walk away from acting in a nonstarring role.)

That's a lot less common than you think. Often that kind of mentality is career suicide in Hollywood. The only reason Shatner got away with it in Trek XI was because he was in his late seventies at the time and thus his career was winding down anyway. There's no way Rick Berman of 1994 was going to walk away from the opportunity to begin producing movies just to protect his "reputation."