Stewart, Grunberg Talk Trek XI

In New York to promote the third X-Men movie, Patrick Stewart expressed the surprise he felt when he heard that there would be an eleventh Star Trek film but reiterated that he does not believe he will be playing Captain Picard again.

FilmForce reported that when asked about rumours that J.J. Abrams planned an original series prequel film, Stewart said, "I don't know. I don't know very much. He had received a call telling him that new Paramount Pictures head Brad Grey was interested in reviving the franchise, after former Paramount president Sherri Lansing "made it pretty clear that after Nemesis, that was goodbye."

Stewart said he knew nothing beyond Abrams's reputation as a big fan of Star Trek. He explained that scriptwriter John Logan and Brent Spiner (Data) had proposed a storyline for a subsequent Next Generation film, but Paramount "put us to sleep...it's interesting for me to hear that there is strong enthusiasm at the studio in going down that path one more time."

The IESB attended a Stewart press event as well, reporting that a possible X-Men prequel would require the recasting of his role and that of Ian McKellen. As for the stories floating around that Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock would be recast as well for Abrams' film, he reiterated that he knew very little but he did not believe he would be returning to the franchise under any circumstances.

Meanwhile, Abrams' frequent associate Greg Grunberg told TV Guide that he wanted to play "a young Scotty" should the rumoured prequel storyline be filmed.

Though he previously had declared his interest in playing a Klingon, Grunberg explained that he had told Abrams he refused to "sit through five hours of makeup for one line" but Abrams insisted that he might have to. Grunberg added that he did hope to have a bigger part in Star Trek XI than he had in Abrams' M:I-3.

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