May the "Force" be with him… .

The Hollywood Exclusive: Shatner Says He’ll Sit Out "Star Trek 11," Wasn’t Asked
Is William Shatner joining the cast of the soon-to-shoot J.J. Abrams’ film tentatively known as "Star Trek 11"?

"I’m not. They haven’t invited me to do it," says Shatner, who figures the movie forces have solved the problem of dealing with the aging version of his iconic spaceship captain character, James T. Kirk, by having a "dead Kirk." As for who’ll play young, alive Kirk, "It seems they’re looking for an unknown, so I have no idea. I don’t have a finger on that pulse. I’ve barely got a finger on my own pulse," Shatner notes jauntily. "I feel sort of like a wallflower. I’ll watch the dance from the wings." Dash it all! But no tears for Shatner, who’s incredibly busy with his own activities, including showing up at the Emmys Sept. 16 to see whether he’ll win an Outstanding Supporting Actor statuette for playing "Boston Legal’s" notorious Denny Crane — again.

And that’s also including "The Academy" — Shatner’s October-release book. "It’s the story of young Kirk and Spock and the forces that molded them. I used the Darfur situation for what generates the excitement. A conflict in which there are child soldiers — and Kirk and Spock are not much older than those child soldiers."

So Shatner’s take on his and Leonard Nimoy’s characters’ early days will get out to the public way ahead of the film, which starts production in November. "It’s a coincidence," he says. "In this book, the publisher is putting a fronticepiece saying that this is the artist’s unique vision."

Shatner also has a recording, a newly created oratorio of "Exodus" with the Arkansas Symphony, coming out this fall. And he has a DVD coming out called "Gonzo Ballet" — indeed. "It’s kind of out there. The Milwaukee Ballet wanted to do a ballet based on five or six songs from my album ‘Has Been.’ They got well-known choreographer Margot Sappington to do about a half-dozen numbers. It was filmed with eight cameras, and with interviews showing how a ballet is born."

And then there’s Denny Crane. What would Shatner like to see that randy ol’ attorney do in the coming season? "I’d like to see him play Captain Kirk in the new ‘Star Trek’ movie."

Courtesy: ArcaMax