William Shatner

As fans prepare for the release of Star Trek Beyond, a crazy story about the 1979 movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture has had us all reflecting on the franchise’s colourful history. An extract from new book The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek, published by The Hollywood Reporter, has revealed how Star Trek: The Motion Picture nearly featured Captain Kirk punching Jesus.

William Shatner played Captain Kirk.

In a draft of the script written by series creator Gene Roddenberry in 1975, the film would have ended with Kirk encountering an alien who had assumed the image of Jesus Christ and getting into a fist fight with him on a bridge.

Continue reading: 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' Nearly Featured Captain Kirk Punching Jesus

William Shatner has some ideas as to how to celebrate ‘Star Trek’s’ upcoming 50th anniversary and they even include a musical. Speaking to the Press Association, Shatner said he's been trying to bring the whole cast together to celebrate half a century of the iconic franchise and has even pitched a musical and a variety show.

Is William Shatner planning ‘Star Trek: The Musical’?

"I'm attempting to sell a 50th anniversary show, but so far I've had very little luck. Maybe because Paramount's going to do their own - but I don't know how they can do their own without me. I've never been contacted,” Shatner said.

Continue reading: William Shatner Teases 'Star Trek: The Musical' For Franchise's 50th Anniversary

Not all sequels are terrible - Toy Story, The Bourne Identity and Batman Begins all received excellent second (and third) instalments, for example - but sometimes a disastrous sequel comes along that nobody was asking for. Here are five of the worst.

1. Teen Wolf Too (1987)

This comedy didn't leave audiences howling

Continue reading: As Jurassic World Sequel Gets Dated, A Look Back At Five Dodgy Film Follow-Ups

Leonard Nimoy's son will direct and produce a documentary on Spock, the Star Trek character his father played in the original series of the cult sci-fi drama. Adam Nimoy, a television director, announced the news on Friday (27th March).The documentary, entitled For the Love of Spock, will be released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Star Trek next year. The first episode of Star Trek aired on 8th September 1966.

A documentary about Leonard Nimoy and Spock will be directed and produced by his son, Adam Nimoy.

Read More: Star Trek Icon Leonard Nimoy Passes Away At The Age Of 83. 

Continue reading: Leonard Nimoy's Son Will Direct & Produce 'Star Trek' Spock Documentary

Mr. T will return to television with a new series, I Pity the Tool. The actor, whose real name is Laurence Tureaud, will be hosting the show for the DIY Network. The network announced the upcoming show on Thursday (19th March). I Pity the Tool, named in homage to Mr. T's famed catch-phrase, will see the 62-year-old actor and his crew remodelling family homes in his hometown of Chicago.

Mr. T will host the new DIY Network series.

Read More: Vanilla Ice Arrested In Florida On Burglary & Grand Theft Auto Charges.

Continue reading: Mr. T To Host DIY Network Show, 'I Pity The Tool'

It was two days after Leonard Nimoy passed away on Friday, that the family held a funeral for the late actor, writer, artist and beloved friend. The service - a private traditional Jewish ceremony, according to the New York Daily News - took place at an undisclosed location in Hollywood at 9am on Sunday. Without William Shatner.

It's unclear why multiple news outlets are making such a big deal out of the fact that Shatner's plane arrived a couple of hours too late for him to attend the service.  But then again, Shatner didn't make it easy on himself either. The Daily News report that the actor said Saturday that he was ditching the funeral to stay in Florida to attend a charity event.

Nimoy's death was sudden and unexpected, so why is everyone making such a big deal out of Shatner's absence?

Continue reading: Shatner Lambasted Online For Missing Nimoy Funeral

The sci-fi world and beyond have united in paying tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy, who passed away on Friday afternoon at the age of 83 in Los Angeles. Nimoy was best known around the world for portraying Spock in the iconic ’Star Trek’ series, a role which he first appeared in back in 1966.

Leonard Nimoy has passed away at the age of 83

Nimoy’s ‘Star Trek’ co-star William Shatner led the tributes, writing on twitter “I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humour, his talent, and his capacity to love."

Continue reading: Remembering Spock: President Obama And William Shatner Pay Tribute To Leonard Nimoy

News that Miley Cyrus is set to team up with The Flaming Lips and Andrew from MGMT to record a cover of The Beatles “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” wasn’t exactly received with a wave of enthusiasm. One Beatles fan replied to The Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne’s Instagram announcement by saying “Sorry if I don’t want a washed-up Pink Floyd tribute band, and Hannah Montana, ruining one of the greatest songs of all time.”

Miley's impending Beatles cover is not eagerly awaited

Outraged Beatles fans may be jumping the gun a little, as we haven’t heard what the track even sounds like yet. However, these songs have been released and we can safely agree that they have produced some of the worst song covers of all time, most of them bordering on outright offensive.

Continue reading: Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears...William Shatner? The Worst Cover Songs Of All Time

What’s that? A giant global corporation has ignored the creative integrity of the people it profits from in order to maximize gross income, potentially alienating future authors and jeopardizing their commerce? That’s right, Amazon is all-aboard the fan fiction train, next stop: avoiding tax on the profit it makes from it!

This means a fan of a book, like Twilight for instance, could write a story with Bella, Edward and Jacob, and sell it back to readers via the Kindle store. That is, if Stephenie Meyer signs up to it, which, considering the size of the brand, she probably won’t. It also means the latent homoerotic relationship between Star Trek’s Kirk and Spock, exhibited so often by completely normal fan fiction writers, can now be a nice little earner for them. Nice that.

It’s surprising just how many authors are signing up to let their work be taken by a fan and moulded into something else. Amazon reckon the "Kindle Worlds" project is a good thing for writers, as it is "an entirely new way to monetise their valuable franchises [and] it allows them to extend their worlds with new stories and characters and more deeply engage with existing fans".

Continue reading: Amazon Thinks Profits And Sanctions Fan Fiction Marketplace