Shatner: "Nobody Offered Me a Part" in 'Star Trek'

For J.J. Abrams, The Shat is not where it's at. As you've probably heard, the original James T. Kirk will not be in the new Star Trek movie, which will boldly go next May. Information has been sketchy as to why William Shatner won't make a return voyage, but last week Abrams tried to clear it up once and for all. Saying that he "tried desperately" to get Shatner in the movie, Abrams told AMC, "It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn't quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn't want to do a cameo." Abrams also expressed some concern over how to handle Kirk's appearance, since the character died onscreen in Generations a bunch of years ago. Now Shatner's having his say, and not surprisingly, it doesn't mesh with the account Abrams gave last week. But Bill Shatner wants his views to be known by everyone, so he went where everyone could see him: YouTube. Personally, as much as I dig Shatner, it's time to let that one go. Even if Abrams never offered him a thing - or hell, even if he did - at a certain point, Shatner's got to move on. If he wanted more Kirk, he shouldn't have let him die back in the 1990s. I think the new movie, going its own direction, will be better off without him. (Thanks to Cinema Blend for tracking down the video.)