page_title: Spock
section_title: Revival attempts and the film franchise
hierarchical_section_title: Spock / Development / Revival attempts and the film franchise
caption_attribution_description: English: Zachary Quinto at the 2010 Comic-Con in San Diego.
context_page_description: Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. Spock, who was originally played by Leonard Nimoy, first appeared in the original Star Trek series serving aboard the starship Enterprise as science officer and first officer, and later as commanding officer of two iterations of the vessel. Spock's mixed human-Vulcan heritage serves as an important plot element in many of the character's appearances. Along with Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, he is one of the three central characters in the original Star Trek series and its films.
  After retiring from active duty in Starfleet, Spock serves as a Federation ambassador, and later becomes involved in the ill-fated attempt to save Romulus from a supernova, leading him to live out the rest of his life in a parallel timeline.
  Spock was played by Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, the animated Star Trek series, eight of the Star Trek feature films, and a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Multiple actors have also played the character after Nimoy. Several portrayed the various stages of Spock's rapid growth in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
context_section_description: Nimoy agreed to return to Spock during one of the early 1970s attempts to create a Star Trek film, entitled Star Trek: The God Thing, but dropped out after his likeness as Spock was used without permission to advertise Heineken beer. He was persuaded to return to the role of Spock as the lead for the planned Trek film titled Planet of the Titans to be directed by Philip Kaufman. When this project was killed in favor of a new television series, Star Trek: Phase II, Nimoy was reportedly just offered only a recurring part by Roddenberry, so refused to appear at all. When the decision was made to turn the TV pilot script into Star Trek: The Motion Picture, director Robert Wise insisted Nimoy to return as the character, which was only accomplished by Jeffrey Katzenberg forcing Paramount to settle the dispute with Nimoy over licensing use of his image. As on the series, Nimoy, calling on method acting training, would often not break character between takes.
  Dissatisfied with the first Trek feature, Nimoy was reluctant to return for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan by the promise of a dramatic death scene. Nimoy enjoyed the production of the film so much that despite his character's on-screen death he wanted to return for a sequel. The film's success allowed Nimoy to successfully negotiate to direct the next installment in addition to briefly appearing as a reanimated Spock. The resulting film, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was successful enough that Nimoy was asked to direct once more for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The following film of the series, the William Shatner-directed Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was initially unacceptable to Nimoy because it called for Spock to betray Kirk and side with his newly introduced half-brother Sybok. Nimoy felt his character had already come to terms with his human-side thus Sybok would have no influence on him, and forced the script to be changed before signing on. Nimoy subsequently organized Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, choosing the director, writers and producers. To hand over to Star Trek: The Next Generation at the time of The Undiscovered Country, Nimoy agreed to appear as Spock in the episode "Unification". Nimoy subsequently turned down the directing role on Star Trek Generations as he wanted to rework the script, and refused reprising the role of Spock for what was essentially a cameo appearance; and his character's lines were subsequently given to Scotty.
  When recasting the role for 2009's Star Trek, Nimoy was asked his opinion. He highlighted the work of Zachary Quinto, as he felt he looked similar and could portray the inner thought process of the character. Quinto became the first actor to be cast for the film, and Nimoy agreed to return as the version of the character from the "Prime" universe. Nimoy said that he returned because of the enthusiasm from director J.J. Abrams and the writers, and because it made him feel appreciated. Nimoy made a final appearance as Spock in Star Trek Into Darkness as a favor to Abrams. At the time, he did not rule out returning again, but he died prior to the following film. In Star Trek Beyond, Quinto's Spock mourns the loss of Spock Prime, as played by Nimoy.
caption: Zachary Quinto was cast as Spock for the 2009 Star Trek film.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D40", "Image Orientation": "0", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa 3.0", "Image DateTime": "2010:07:25 23:09:58", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "210", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1002", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5248", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:07:23 17:27:11", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:07:23 17:27:11", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "39/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, return light not detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF SubSecTime": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "449", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "623", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "878", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "36", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "5128140867e2be6c4f6eb28bf18575a8"}