Last week, an interesting rumor popped up that the original Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, could have a role in the upcoming Star Trek 3, and that he would be reuniting with Leonard Nimoy’s Spock for the first time on screen in decades. Though Shatner was quick to dismiss the rumor on Twitter, the actor confirmed at an appearance at Wizard World Nashville this weekend that he had in fact been contacted about appearing in the film.
ComicBook.com reports that actor mentioned that producer J.J. Abrams called him directly about potentially returning, saying: “I’m calling because the director of Star Trek, the next movie, has had an idea where you might be involved, so I’m calling to find out whether you would be interested.”
Shatner says he told Abrams, “It depends on what you do with the character, but I would be delighted.” He went on to detail that he was sworn to secrecy on the matter but that after he was contacted the story managed to make its way online.
“So the news is out that they have an idea that they want Leonard and myself…they might want Leonard and myself in it,” the actor said. “But I would love to do it. But how do you get me fifty years later into the movie? I mean how do you rationalize it. I know it’s science fiction, but even I couldn’t come up with an idea. So that’s the news on that.”
Screenwriter Roberto Orci recently completed the script for the upcoming film along with writers Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne. Orci has also been tapped to direct the third (or thirteenth, depending on your point of view) adventure of the Enterprise crew, following the departure of J.J. Abrams for a galaxy far, far away.
There’s no announced timeframe for the next “Star Trek” film as of yet, but the expectation is that the new film will land in theaters in 2016, just in time for the franchise’s 50th anniversary.
