14 DAY TRIAL // If this is true, it comes as exceptionally good news for fans of the “Star Trek” franchise, one of the most successful film franchises in the history of cinema: William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original “Star Trek” TV series, is said to have a part in the upcoming third installment of the rebooted franchise.
If you’re a fan, you recall that he was also supposed to appear for at least a few seconds in the 2009 film, but his cameo was left on the floor of the editing room when the final cuts were operated. Shatner being Shatner could never forgive director / writer J.J. Abrams for it, even calling him a greedy “pig” in a 2013 interview.
2016 will be the year when fans will see Shatner back on SS Enterprise
The third installment in the new “Star Trek” series of films comes out in 2016 and will see Roberto Orci take over from Abrams on directorial duties, as the latter was eventually forced to choose between “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” – and chose the latter, which he’s shooting in London in 2015.
Assuming Shatner had something with Abrams only and not the new film franchise, he could consider a cameo in the upcoming installment – BAD reports that the role is already in the script. If he agrees to it, this will be his first time back on screen with Leonard Nimoy as Kirk and Spock since “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” which came out in 1991.
“I have learned that the script for Star Trek 3 includes a scene that reteams Shatner and Nimoy onscreen,” the report says. “Will it happen? The movie is still a ways out from shooting, but unlike the cameo intended for 2009's Star Trek this appearance is plot-driven and integral enough that it might just survive any future revisions. And if it does, will Shatner – who can be prickly – agree to the appearance?”
The mere rumor that he might make a cameo caused a frenzy online with fans, so imagine what confirmation of it will do. Shatner isn’t just “prickly,” he’s also entitled to a fault (allegedly), but hearing the kind of reaction his cameo might get could tip the scales in favor of doing it.
That is, assuming he doesn’t ask for too much again
Even if Shatner agrees and the cameo survives all the script edits, there’s still a huge risk to this ever seeing the light of day – and it comes from Shatner himself.
From Abrams’ account of what happened with the 2009 planned cameo, we understand that it was Shatner himself who sabotaged it by basically asking for the role to get bigger and bigger with each new meeting, to the point where he would have gotten more screentime and his story arc more importance than young Kirk’s, played by Chris Pine.
That’s something that Shatner did on a regular basis at the height of his fame, if you believe online reports. So here’s to hoping old age brought him some much-needed wisdom and he won’t pull a similar stunt on “Star Trek 3” because fans really want to see this happen.