In the DVD making of documentary,
William Shatner says that at the time they were filming, there was no clear end to the film and that the writers were constantly re-writing the ending. He recalls that at one point he came up with what he considered a good ending and pitched it to co-star
Leonard Nimoy who thought it was a good idea. They then went together to
Robert Wise to pitch the idea to him. Wise also liked the idea. Now Shatner had to pitch it to
Gene Roddenberry. Shatner claims that by the time he pitched the ending to Roddenberry that he was so exhausted from mustering up the energy to pitch the idea (in addition to the energy he use to work on the film) that his pitch didn't go over so well and Gene Roddenberry rejected it. In his book "Star Trek Movie Memories" (1994), Shatner recalls the story differently: the scene in question is the one in which the Enterprise crew starts to leave the bridge in order to show the Ilia/Probe it is acting like a little child. When Roddenberry rejected it, Robert Wize got
Harold Livingston to write the scene instead.
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