I heard Wednesday is the new Tuesday ...

We never thought it would happen, but Hollywood has finally invented a time machine and is using it to resurrect a number of old franchises. From indieWIRE comes news that MGM's Mary Parent and Harry Sloan are interested in finding out whether audiences want Sly Stallone to return for another Rocky installment. The article adds, "Parent asked for a show of hands from the audience who might be in to that. Though there were a few very enthusiastic responses, many kept quiet." Hmm, maybe they were just pretending not to listen.

During the same MGM panel, Parent mentioned the recently-announced Robocop remake and said it "would be great in 3-D, as would something we're hoping to announce soon." Announce soon? What is it? Could it be Rocky vs Robocop: The Future Ends Here ... in 3-D? Fingers crossed. Here's our earlier story on the Robocop remake, which also includes a remake of Red Dawn. God help us. [via Moviehole]

Finally, on the Star Trek front, a few possible spoilers have leaked out over at TrekMovie.com. I won't go into many details here, though I will say the spoilers have to do with the several different ships featured in the film. Speaking of, what's the official title for this flick? Do we have one yet? Is it just Star Trek? Star Trek XI? How about Star Trek New Beginnings: The Future and the Past Together At Last? On a separate note, MTV spoke with William Shatner who -- wait for it -- is still pretty upset about not being included in the new film. His words (not mine): "I'm solidly behind being disappointed that I'm not in it." Next week Shatner re-phrases things and notes: "I'm not not devastated, though I am positive about being negative."

By now, anyone who follows movie news on an even semi-regular basis knows about the lack of William Shatner in the next Star Trek movie. The original Captain Kirk has been all kinds of vocal about this fact, which recently led him to a spot on Cinematical's Lame in 2007 list. Now, even though production is well underway, Sci Fi Wire says that there's still a chance. It seems that Roberto Orci, the co-writer of the latest installment, says that the first Kirk could still get a spot in the film, but that it's less of a possibility. Considering the fact that it didn't sound like much of a possibility to begin with, aren't we talking about almost none from almost none?

Although Orci says that they're still trying to find a way, they've struggled with the Trek sticklers and how to deal with Kirk's death in Star Trek VII. Now things are further complicated by the writers' strike -- they can't make script changes until the whole thing is settled. To me, it seems like they're just trying to appease Shatner as much as possible, although I don't see why. The way everyone is talking, you'd think that they're trying to figure out how to write a vampire into an historic war drama or something.

If they want to have Shatner at least pop up, without being able to write it into the script, they could always have Kirk look in a mirror, or some reflective surface and see Shatner, and what Kirk will become. Back when they could still mess around with the script, it wouldn't have been hard for Spock to muse about what his life would be like had Kirk not died, or the Vulcan seeing the different crew members morphing into his once-friends. Or heck, even a daydream where he talks with an imagined Kirk about whatever his role is in the film. But the "possibility" will probably just sit there until the production is finished, and when the Enterprise zooms onto the big screen once again, it will be without Shat.

I'm still holding out for the surprise announcement that William Shatner will indeed appear in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. In the meantime, though, I expect to hear another complaint from the original Captain Kirk after reading this juicy bit of goodness: George Takei has a cameo in the upcoming movie*, which will be a prequel-ish reboot of the TV and movie franchise. According to a Starburst magazine interview with the actor, Takei will feature in a flash-forward scene that will also showcase original Spock, Leonard Nimoy. From the sound of it, he will be returning to his iconic role as an older version of Sulu. Best guess is that Takei and Nimoy will be sitting in futuristic rocking chairs reminiscing about their beginnings at the Starfleet Academy, and this scene will be the prologue to the rest of the movie. Playing the younger versions of Sulu and Spock throughout the rest of the film are John Cho and Zachary Quinto, respectively.

Well, if Shatner doesn't put up more of a fuss, the fans should. After all, as long as we're getting two of the surviving original cast members, why can't we get the rest? Sure, it would be a sad scene, considering DeForest Kelley (Bones) and James Doohan (Scotty) aren't around to be a part of such a reunion, but the Trekkies would certainly appreciate seeing Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru), Walter Koenig and of course Shatner together again. Am I right? They could all have a few laughs while yelling at the kids to get off their damn lawns. And we could all feel better about having to accept all new actors as these beloved characters. So, who is going to start the online petition? Oh wait, that's already been done.

*UPDATE: Apparently this is just another rumor, one that has been debunked. According to TrekMovie.com, Takei will not have a cameo in the new Star Trek.

CNN is reporting that William Shatner is upset at not being asked to appear in J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek film. Adding insult to injury, the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is on board. I guess you could say the Shat has hit the fan. "I couldn't believe it. I'm not in the movie at all. Leonard, God bless his heart, is in, but not me," says Shatner. "I thought, what a decision to make, since it obviously is a decision not to make use of the popularity I have to ensure the movie has good box office. It didn't seem to be a wise business decision." I think Shatner may be overestimating his box office popularity here, but I certainly think that if you're going to have Nimoy, you need to have Shatner. No?

Director Abrams originally had said Shatner would likely play a role, but the pair had a couple of meetings that led to nothing. Chris Pine (Smokin' Aces) is playing the young Captain Kirk. Heroes' Zachary Quinto is playing the young Spock, and we don't know much about Nimoy's role in the movie other than that "there's going to be a sense of guidance in this film and beyond." Shatner says simply, "Having been in on the creation of it, I was hoping to be in on the re-creation." I think the guy's got a point. If I had to guess, perhaps Abrams is trying to make a serious, non-jokey Trek film, and the presence of Shatner would upset that balance? Shatner has become more of a comedic figure these days, with his work on Boston Legal and appearances like his Comedy Central Roast. What do you guys think?

Let's see now, we've got a Spock, a Uhura and a Chekov. We still need a Kirk, a Scott, a McCoy ("Bones") and a Sulu. I feel like I'm collecting trading cards, but really I'm just anxiously awaiting more Star Trek news. The new sorta-prequel (aka Star Trek XI) is set to begin filming soon, so it's about time J.J. Abrams finds the rest of his cast. Or, if he's already found his stars, it's about time Paramount announced them. At least the rumors and unconfirmed choices continue to float around the net. In fact, this morning we have two fairly reliable sources reporting new names to place in the Kirk and Scott slots.

The investigative team over at IESB got word that Mike Vogel (Poseidon) is the front-runner to fill William Shatner's shoes in the role of James T. Kirk. The site attempted to confirm the rumor with both Paramount and Vogel's agents, but obviously neither would comment. But IESB did get a hint of nervousness from the latter, Gersh Agency, which was curious about where this news had come from. The way IESB's Robert Sanchez relays the encounter, it does sound like a slight, accidental confirmation. But we'll see. Vogel (who makes me think of Superbad's Fogel) is also co-starring in the Abrams-produced monster movie coming in January -- you know, Cloverfield, 1-18-08 or whatever it will be titled -- so at least we know the actor has an in with the director.

In case you missed it during our liveblogged coverage of ComicCon's Paramount panel, here's the new teaser poster for Star Trek (click on it for a bigger image). If you missed the coverage altogether, you can go back and check it out (including the Paramount photo gallery) -- actually, you must go and check it out. It was awesome. And I rarely think things are awesome. Also, for those who did follow live, we've since put up the photo coverage, which you might not have seen yet (including a pic of Karen Allen on the Indiana Jones IV set!!)

Anyway, during the Star Trek portion of the panel, the forthcoming film's director, J.J. Abrams, officially revealed that Heroes' Zachary Quinto is going to play a young Spock. And then, after introducing Quinto, he brought out Leonard Nimoy, who will also be playing Spock. Like JoBlo.com, a lot of you probably got the idea that Nimoy would be bookending the new movie, which would serve as a sort of flashback. But considering Abrams also mentioned that he hasn't figured out yet how to get William Shatner into the movie (so he doesn't feel snubbed), JoBlo's reminiscing plot doesn't seem likely. The other big news revealed during the panel is that Abrams has still not found his young Kirk. And he was apparently looking for ideas from the audience. I wonder if he got any feedback.

As soon as the new Star Trek movie buzz started up, the inevitable question was soon to follow: who would be in it? In April, it was confirmed that Captain Kirk would be in it. That's the character, not Mr. William Shatner. But really, that's not too surprising since the man, and his Vulcan counterpart Leonard Nimoy, turned the whoppingly ripe age of 76 this year. As great as he has aged, he just wouldn't look the same in that classic outfit. It'd be more of a happy buddha Kirk than the real deal. Since then, plot details have come out that have Kirk and Spock are in their young academy days. Okay, so this is going way back in time. Last month, Chris Ullrich posted about rumors that Shatner was ticked off because he wasn't getting a cameo in the film, but Nimoy was. It's one thing to say there are no cameos, but to exclude Kirk when Spock is in it? Come on.

Now, we've got it straight from the horse's mouth. Over at ShatnerVision, there's a video clip where ol' Kirk talks about the new movie and just what happened: "I called Leonard and I said 'Leonard! Have you heard?' and he said 'Yes, I have.' I said: 'What do you mean?' He said: 'I've read the script.' I said: 'Is it a good script?' He says: 'Yeah.' I said: 'Am I in it?' He said, and it was a pause. He says: 'No.'" While this doesn't make much sense to me (why wouldn't he be given a cameo?), what makes even less sense is the rest of the interview. The poor guy just finished his story about how he's completely not involved in the story, and what's the follow-up question? "When is this coming out?" Yeah, because the guy who got shafted from a cameo is part of the PR train. Sigh. Well, while I'm no Trekkie, I've watched a number of the old-school episodes in my day, and I used to go see all the movies. But really, I'm not sure I'll be interested without a little Shat. I guess I'll just turn on some episodes of Boston Legal instead.

I'm going to go on record right now and say that I love William Shatner. When I was a kid we moved around a bit and it was tough to make any real friends. Fortunately, the one constant I had in my life at that time -- right or wrong -- was television. Every time we moved to a new place, I would turn on the TV and there would be a rerun of the original Star Trek -- an old friend that I could always count on. William Shatner will always be Captain Kirk to me -- a friend there when I needed him.

So, reading this latest article provided for us by PR Inside, I can't help but be disappointed. Apparently, Shatner was lobbying hard to get a cameo role in the new Star Trek film, currently known as Star Trek XI, being directed by Lost and Mission Impossible III vet J.J. Abrams, but was denied a part by the film's producers. To add apparent insult to injury, Shatner also leaned that his Star Trek co-star Leonard Nimoy was cast in the new film and given a small cameo role. According to the article, these two events made Shatner very angry.

Although his people deny he's at all concerned or angry, I'll bet there's some truth to the story. After all, there probably wouldn't be a Star Trek without Shatner (or Nimoy for that matter) so its seems right that he be allowed to participate in the new film if he really wants to. I can't read Shatner's mind, of course, but I'll bet he feels he deserves some consideration for his role in creating the iconic and hugely popular franchise. But no matter if he's in the film or not, angry or not, he still deserves respect and consideration for creating one of the most beloved characters of all time.

I am, by no means, a Trekkie, but I did watch a fair amount of the Trek as a kid, since I had a thing for retro television shows. As I get older, I've been discovering that there are a lot more Trekkies in the midst than just the frequent fan convention attendees. Heck, I recently met Trekkie-turned-poet, so it takes all kinds. That's probably why the franchise continues. It not only has a strong, rabid fan base, but a pretty vast circle of outer interest as well. Now, we've been keeping you up-to-date on Star Trek XI for months, and there still hasn't been clear word on those two popular faces of the franchise.

Last November, we wondered if Captain Kirk could be replaced, since the powers that be wants to tell the early years of the team. In March, there was news that William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy met with J.J. Abrams for an "exploratory talk" about the film. Now it seems that those talks seem to be it for the duo, at least for right now. The Trek Movie Report has a post up about Spock and Kirk appearing at a convention in Minneapolis. Neither had news about the next sequel, and Shatner joked that he was "out of the loop." Nimoy, sticking to his guns, reasserted that he was only interested if it would be a "meaningful role." Are they just keeping the possibility of Shatner and Nimoy returning just to keep us interested? Are they putting off further talks because the pair won't like what XI will cover, or who they want to cast? Abrams wants to have this out next year, so I'm surprised that the pair hasn't gotten more information.

Yesterday, we spent some time discussing the delay of Trek XI in the scriptwriting phase. Today's topic for discussion -- who plays Kirk? As we all know, the new flick plans to be a Young Kirk and Spock Adventures film, which of course means somebody out there has to play the famous screen icons. There's a big problem with this in my world (and I imagine the same is true with many of you), and in an interview with TV Guide, Shatner perfectly defined the problem in one succinct sentence: "I think it [the role of Kirk] is essentially uncastable." I'd probably extend the statement to cover Spock as well, but for the purposes of this discussion we'll stick with Kirk for now.

You know it, I know it, and if they're honest, the studio people know it too. William Shatner IS Captain Kirk. The role was not played by him, the role was him. Shatner so thoroughly embodied the character it is hard to imagine anyone else doing it. Sure, lots of people can do a fantastic Kirk imitation, and a number of actors are certainly talented enough to mimic the character very well, but we'd all watch it and know it just wasn't Shatner. Michael Vartan, an actor who has worked with director J.J. Abrams in the past, knows this to be true. Vartan said Kirk is "one of those roles you just don't touch."

Look, I'm not a big Trek fan. I like it, but I've never committed enough time or interest to really be considered a fan, so I'm not making this argument out of some weird fanboy loyalty. All remakes are tricky because of the recasting factor, and this time we're talking about recasting a very unique and recognizable role. It is going to be very hard ... but if this movie moves forward, it has to happen. Is there anyone out there who could fill Shatner's shoes?