William Shatner returned to play the legendary Captain Kirk in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations and starred along with The Next Generation cast. While the movie was a moderate success at the box office, earning $118 million (via Box Office Mojo), the climax shows Kirk sacrificing his life and saving the rest of the crew.
Shatner was reportedly disapproving of the death, despite it being a heroic one. He said that he was forced to accept his fate in the movie, and the alternative was even worse (via Trek Movie).
Well, I didn’t think I had any choice in the matter. Paramount had decided that the ceiling that they could reach in our box office had been reached, and they thought that by putting in the Next Generation cast, they would reach a higher box office. That decision had been made. It was either I was going to appear and die, or they were going to say he died. So, I chose the more practical of the two.
While the actor has teased his return many times in the past, the character of Kirk has since been recast twice, with Chris Pine playing the part in J.J. Abrams’ movie and Paul Wesley playing it in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
William Shatner’s Kirk Had a Less Gracious Death Originally in Star Trek: Generations
William Shatner was the definitive face of the Star Trek franchise until Sir Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard in TNG attained global success. Shatner’s Kirk is still iconic in the franchise, and while there have been more iterations of the character, Shatner remains its most definitive version, with his swashbuckling attitude.
Shatner’s character canonically died in Star Trek Generations, sacrificing his life on Veridian II to save the Enterprise crew from the Nexus and Soran. While he had a heroic death, the initial idea for the movie was reportedly far more violent and less gracious than what we ended up getting.
Writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore had a different idea altogether. Their initial idea was reportedly to pit both Enterprise crews against each other and end it with a spaceship battle with the two ships (via Slash Film).
I think Ron and I envisioned the two Enterprises kinda locked in battle. Somehow they would meet, but [then] they would get together and fight the bad guy, and Kirk would go down on his bridge, instead of a bridge falling on him.
While William Shatner was disapproving of the heroic death he received in Generations, this alternate idea would have definitely been a strict no from the actor.
Not Star Trek Day, but a Trek Movie Inspired Another Day of Celebrating the Franchise
Star Trek Generations was a decent start to the TNG movie franchise, but the best movie in the film series remains First Contact. Jonathan Frakes’ feature film debut did everything right and was commercially successful, earning $146 million (via Box Office Mojo). It is known for its gripping screenplay and a unique visual style, which Sir Patrick Stewart praised too.
The film also inspired the franchise to celebrate one particular day as ‘First Contact Day’. The franchise already had Star Trek Day, the anniversary of the original show’s premiere, on September 8. This year, several announcements about the franchise, including a YouTube-based animated series and a podcast series, were released.
First Contact Day, on the other hand, is celebrated on April 5 of every year and marks the day of first contact between aliens and humans, as shown in the movie First Contact. The date was reportedly based on writer Ronald D. Moore’s eldest son’s birthday. The day is marked by virtual events, conventions, and other events.
What do you think about this year’s Star Trek Day? Was it worth the hype? Comment below.
Star Trek: Generations is available to stream on Paramount+.
