The original Captain Kirk is miffed: he ‘can’t believe’ he won’t be included in the upcoming Star Trek film, helmed by Lost creator J.J. Abrams. In interviews yesterday, William Shatner didn’t pull any punches on how disappointed he was to be overlooked in the 2008 prequel.
Digital Journal — The face of Star Trek isn’t smiling these days. William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the seminal sci-fi series and films, is disheartened about being snubbed in the upcoming Star Trek movie, due for release in December 2008.
Shatner said that it was strange that Leonard Nimoy, known as Spock to Trekkies, will reprise his role while Shatner won’t helm the Starship Enterprise once more. Shatner told reporters:I couldn’t believe it. I’m not in the movie at all. Leonard, God bless his heart, is in, but not me.
Shatner, 76, didn’t stop there. He went on to express more bitterness at the snub, while also blasting director J.J. Abrams for dismissing the original Captain Kirk:
I thought, what a decision to make, since it obviously is a decision not to make use of the popularity I have to ensure the movie has good box office. It didn’t seem to be a wise business decision.
Although the film’s plot is a tightly-guarded secret, Paramount has released a few minor details: it centres on an early adventure for the Enterprise crew, acting as a prequel to the other 10 Trek films. The cast includes Chris Pine as young Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto (of Heroes fame) as the young Spock and John Cho (the Harold in Harold & Kumar) as Sulu.
