William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek 3?

Kirk and Spock

Buzz is starting to build around what will be Star Trek 3 in the rebooted Trek franchise. With that buzz rumors about what this next movie will include have begun to surface. Most of these rumors have been quite fun to follow and speculate about, and some of them even seem like they might have some validity to them.

Star Trek 3 Rumors

Here are the main rumors that have been floating around the internet:

 

  • If they end up being true, the third movie will take place during the five year mission. Not a huge surprise as this is where Star Trek: The Original Series took place. Since this is the series that the reboot is focusing on, it would only make sense that they would eventually get into the whole five year mission thing.
  • Bob Orci is directing. While this hasn’t been confirmed yet, this seems like it could be a fairly solid rumor as well. He has been leading the writing team. He has cleared his schedule from a Power Rangers movie that could conflict with the shooting of Star Trek 3. He also seems to be the point man on all things having to do with this movie so… it’s looking like a done deal and I’ll be surprised if he isn’t in the director’s chair when things get going.
  • Filming to begin in the spring of 2015. According to TrekMovie.com, Orci will begin filming the movie in February.
  • George Takei would love to be back in Star Trek. He isn’t lobbying for a role (he says) but he definitely would enjoy one. He has said:

    The word seems to have gotten out that I am lobbying for a role in the next Star Trek movie. But the truth of that is that I was asked in an interview by a journalist would I want to be in the next Star Trek film? What actor would not? So I said yes. So that person interpreted that and has been saying that I am enthusiastic and lobbying vigorously to be – so I am very careful with my word choice.

    And in a separate interview… 

    Would you ever consider participating in a future Star Trek film or TV series?
    “All they have to do is ask me! I’m more than eager [laughs]. As you know, Leonard Nimoy did two of the rebooted films with J.J. Abrams, and they’re preparing another one because in two years, Star Trek’s going to be 50 years old…so they’ll be coming out with another major feature film with a rebooted cast.”

  • William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have supposedly been written into the script for a scene. This is a complete unknown and I’ll talk more about it below but what we do know is that William Shatner has not been contacted about it. Bob Orci has declined to confirm or deny anything about the movie saying the movie will answer the questions when released. Leonard Nimoy has remained silent on this issue so far.
  • Star Trek 3 to be released in the summer of 2016. This would make a lot of sense as it would line up with the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.

There really haven’t been any major official announcements for Star Trek 3 to date. So what is officially known is that there will be a third movie and it will involve the rebooted cast. Beyond that, all of it is rumor (although some of it is pretty solid) and speculation.

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Thoughts on Star Trek: The Original Series Return

This could probably be a completely separate post but I’m just going to include it here. The idea of having original cast members from Star Trek return for Star Trek 3 is a mixed bag for me. Seeing as it appears that this film will be released during the 50th anniversary year of the franchise, the Trekkie in me geeks out about the idea of having the original Captain Kirk and Spock return. Then reality sets in. Sometimes it is best to leave the past in the past.

Is this a good idea? 

Would it really be a good idea to have the original Kirk and Spock return? If it fits into the story and helps further the plot in a solid way, absolutely. If there was a way to fit it into the plot in a logical way that didn’t take over and turn off non-trek fans, I would like to see more original cast members appear. Obviously some are no longer around so that could be a trick. However, it would be cool to see a flash forward in the new timeline to an older crew perhaps sending of Enterprise B in a similar but different scenario to the beginning of Star Trek: Generations. Heck, this could be Sulus command in this timeline instead of Captain John Harriman. In my head, as the two timelines move forward… the further they are from the point of divergence the more different they get. Potentially this could create a way that could tie in the old and new crew and give something to long time fans and also help engage new fans. It also could be a very solid passing of the torch to the new crew in a way that really hasn’t been done yet.

Final Thoughts:

Star Trek 3 will be a true test for the franchise. If the rumors do end up being true we could be seeing a Star Trek fan directing instead of a Star Wars fan (who is now directing Star Wars) who also appreciated Star Trek. The two franchises always had very different approaches to life in space but in recent years, they distance between these two franchises have been slimmed down a bit. Orci is a Trekkie. He understands that at its core Star Trek has always been about exploration and the expansion of ideas. At it’s core, Star Trek has always been about peace and a more utopian future. It is all about the journey. Star Wars has always been about good fighting evil on a large scale. I absolutely love both franchises and love the differences they have brought to the sci-fi universe. They both created and defined what the space sci-fi genre should be and built the foundation that movies continue to jump off of.

What do you think of the rumors about Star Trek 3? Would you like to see Shatner and Nimoy return to the original Kirk and Spock roles? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Make it a GREAT day!

  • Mr. DAPs