William Shatner And Roberto Orci Respond To 'Star Trek 3' Rumors

Earlier this week we got word that Roberto Orci wanted William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy back on board for Star Trek 3. According to that report, the current version of the script calls for the two to appear in a scene together, for the first time since 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Naturally, all the talk got old-school Trek fans buzzing. However, all that excitement may be premature, because Orci and Shatner have now spoken up to clarify that nothing is set just yet. Hit the jump to read about the William Shatner Star Trek 3 rumors.

The actor really wants to make sure all his fans have seen that statement. As Trek Movie points out, he even "pinned" it to the top of his Twitter page.

Orci, who co-wrote the Star Trek 3 script and is slated to direct, is being more cryptic. In a comment on Trek Movie, he wrote:

love no win scenarios. In theoy, damned either way.

Later, he added:

Not in my interest to confirm or deny anything because it limits my options while maintaining my integrity as a truth teller.

The movie is not the movie till it is in the theater. Until then, everything is a rumor.

Shatner probably isn't entirely wrong about the rumor being used to hype up the movie. It got us talking about Star Trek 3, didn't it? But Orci's ambiguous statements do suggest he's at least considering a Shatner cameo. If he weren't, it'd probably be easier to just deny, deny, deny.

It's worth noting the original story never stated that Shatner was locked in for the next Star Trek, only that Orci's current script includes an opportunity for Shatner to make a cameo. So it may just be that Orci and his team haven't gotten around to contacting Shatner yet.

After all, the new Star Trek isn't shooting for another few months. A lot can change in that time, including the script. Perhaps Orci and company want to get all the details in place before reaching out to Shatner — especially given that he's been sore about being left out of J.J. Abrams' earlier films. Peter summarizes that history right here, if you're interested.

For his part, Nimoy has not yet weighed in. Nor are the folks at Paramount and Bad Robot saying anything official. And we're just going to have to get used to that, because we're sure to hear many, many more rumors before this thing finally drops in 2016.