“I think a movie that shows people of various races working together and surviving hundreds of years from now is not a bad message to put out right now,” were the words of J. J. Abrams, director/producer of the upcoming Star Trek flick. “It was important to me that optimism be cool again,” he said in a recent interview.

This “We Are the Universe” sort of mentality might sound mushy, but let’s give the guy some slack. He does, after all, have a movie to promote. Everything’s gotta have an angle, and this one is a sight better than the Shater-Abrams feud that’s been filling the press.

The film, scheduled to be released in 2009, has been in-the-making for a dreadfully long time. Nothing new has been added to the Star Trek franchise as a whole since 2005 (when Enterprise was taken off the air). It hasn’t been on the big screen since 2002’s Nemesis (directed by Stuart Baird).

Leonard Nimoy, a.k.a. Mr. Spock, is also looking forward to the film. “My only regret is that the movie can’t come out sooner,” he said recently. I concur. Nimoy will reprise his most famous role in the film, with Zachary Quinto starring as the new Spock (same character, different times in their lives).

As for Captain Kirk - sorry, I mean William Shatner - he won’t be appearing in the film. That’s to say, the man - not the character. The character will be portrayed by Chris Pine, who said he modeled the role after a Harrison Ford-type reluctant hero. Hrm.

“I was such a huge fan of his,” said Abrams of Shatner, “but we wrote a scene for him in the movie and it didn’t feel right.” Ah…get new writers? “He said to us - he said publicly - that doing a cameo didn’t interest him. Which I totally appreciate. But we did try.” Really, you tried?