William Shatner Calls JJ Abrams 'A Pig' For Directing Both 'Star Trek' And 'Star Wars'

Shatner, who starred in the original 1960s television version of “Star Trek,” feels that Abrams is being “a pig” by choosing to help both the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" universes. After all, the two are science fiction’s most recognizable – and marketable – franchises.

"He's being a pig," Shatner said during an interview with Movie Fanatic. "He's collecting the two franchises and holding them close to his vest. He's probably the most talented director of that ilk that we have, but he's gone too far this time."

"I think of him as a buddy of mine," Shatner continued. "I've taken him out for sushi. I think it's time for J.J. and I to have another sushi and let me put him straight about two of the largest franchises," before joking that, "not employing me in either one of them is just foolhardy."

This isn’t the first time that Shatner has had beef with Abrams. During the production of the “Star Trek” reboot, Shatner got word that his original series co-star Leonard Nemoy would be making a significant appearance in the film, but that Shatner would be suspiciously absent, even in a cameo role. While Shatner made it clear that he wanted to appear in the upcoming reboot, Abrams said he couldn’t make it work.

Abrams told AMC in 2008, "We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn't quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn't want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It's funny -- a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that."