“I would be delighted to consider it.”
Most Star Trek fans would love to witness the return of William Shatner as the iconic commander of the USS Enterprise, James T. Kirk, and, yes, the Hollywood veteran is open to the possibility of reprising the role. However, the actor laid out a couple of reasonable conditions on social media, which, hopefully, the Paramount Skydance Corporation is paying attention to.
Shatner posted the conditions to his Instagram account as a way of stopping the Star Trek rumor mill before it accelerates to full warp speed, which fans can read in its entirety below. Essentially, though, Shatner’s requests boil down to the following two things: “a meaningful way to bring Captain Kirk back to life” and giving the character a meaningful role “that added to the beauty and spirit of Star Trek."
These are not unreasonable requests, and I personally think there will never be a better time to resurrect the character for the big screen. The Paramount Skydance Corporation will soon have the additional power of Warner Bros. Discovery at its beck and call, which gives it the financial and creative resources to make a meaningful new Star Trek film featuring the return of Captain James T. Kirk.
I understand that it’s called showbusiness for a reason, but a Shatner-led Star Trek film is a no-brainer and a win-win for both Paramount and the fans, if the studio properly addresses the screenplay and then the movie production. Whatever the studio ends up calling itself, Paramount/Skydance/Warner Bros. would make a killing by resurrecting Kirk for another adventure on the Silver Screen.
And just imagine all the new fans Star Trek could rake in, if the franchise was visible to the public again on a theatrical stage, not just television and streaming.
Consider this: the beloved science fiction franchise was dormant on television and on the big screen from the cancellation of the Enterprise series featuring Scott Bakula in 2005 until J.J. Abrams’ blockbuster Star Trek landed in cinemas four years later.
And Star Trek (2009) was a hit with both the fans (91 percent Popcornmeter, formerly the Rotten Tomatoes audience score) and financially ($386.8 million worldwide). Why did the film succeed, though? I believe Leonard Nimoy’s return as Ambassador Spock played a large part, but so did the inclusion of The Original Series’ other iconic characters as younger versions of themselves.
Paramount could do something similar by bringing back Shatner as Kirk in a creative way that would also revitalize Star Trek’s theatrical presence. I’m not going to pretend this is going to be cheap, but with the combined resources of Paramount, Skydance, and Warner Bros., the Hollywood studio has the financial clout to afford Shatner’s salary and the production costs — and still make a fortune in profits.
According to Page Six, Marvel Studios is paying Robert Downey Jr. a nine-figure salary to save the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday and its sequel, Secret Wars. Despite the steep paycheck, Marvel will still make a killing at the box office, and the film should also revitalize the fandom's interest in seeing more superhero films from the studio.
So, isn’t it logical to cut a similar-sized check for Mr. Shatner, if Captain Kirk’s return could bring Star Trek back to cinemas successfully in the eyes of fans and lucratively for the studio? What do you think? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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