It seems the producers would very much like to include William Shatner and his older alter ago of Capt. Kirk in the new Star Trek film. There's just one problem: He's buried on top of a mountain in some distant solar system thanks to Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.
"From our point of view, we are still hoping to find a way" to put Shatner in the movie, said Roberto Orci, one of the producers on "Star Trek XI," to SciFi Channel's SciFi Magazine. "One of the difficulties that was brought up and discussed with Shatner, when we all met him and pitched him ideas, is that Trek fans are sticklers for their canon. Unfortunately, Shatner's Capt. Kirk was killed in 'Star Trek VII,' so the difficulty there is not just ignoring that or explaining it away in an unsatisfactory way merely to get him back in. That's the struggle: the rigors of canon and not phoning it in just to have a cameo."
As much as they would like to include Shatner, however, Orci described it as a "long shot," mirroring responses from the actor himself in recent weeks about his involvement (or lack thereof) in the film.
With all this attention being paid to canon, it still raises an eyebrow when Orci talks about a potential reboot of the franchise, something that has happened in other major universes in the film and television world in recent years.
"We all felt it was an incredible world that has existed for 40 years, and like some other great franchises -- be it Batman or James Bond -- it needed a boost by finding a new approach to the story and the world," said Bryan Burk, a producer on the new film. "It was too great to let it go away or continue on its current path."
Unlike other movie projects, the original producers attached to this incarnation brought with them a lot of ideas and previous investment into "Star Trek XI" -- and they have made it such a strong introductory movie, they don't want people calling it "Star Trek XI" anymore.
"Even if you were a fan back then or you haven't see the last few [movies], with that title you might think it's like tuning in to 'Lost' now and that you'll never catch up," Orci said. "So it's so important to get out the message that this, in a way, is 'Star Trek Zero.' It's a reintroduction. We designed it so that if you know everything about Star Trek, you will have one kind of an experience, because you will pick up on all kinds of references. If you are not a fan, those things will be an introduction, and it won't require you to know anything."
"Star Trek XI" premieres Dec. 25, 2008.
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Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
