The Daily Dish: May 12

-- McG takes blame for Bale meltdown. Months after Christian Bale's meltdown on the set of Terminator: Salvation was leaked to the public, director McG has stepped forward to take some of the blame for the incident. As both actor and director head out across the world to do press for the film at the centre of the controversy, the director has taken some time out to set a few things straight. The experienced helmer explained to Access Hollywood, "it broke my heart, because I take all the responsibility for protecting my actors on the set day in and day out, and it's my responsibility to make sure that they can be free to express themselves in any way they like and it's a real violation of the family of the set community.” The leaked tape documented Bale yelling at the film’s director of photography Shane Hurlbut after he'd walked into the actor’s line of sight to correct a lighting problem during an extremely tense scene. McG went on to say, "I wanted the blood up of all my actors... Everybody was very wound up and everybody was fired up and I wanted him (Bale) that way... I riled him up! I deserve all the blame, in fact, throw me right under the bus." Bale has already apologized for the outburst (both publicly and to Hurlbut himself) and his director wants to make it clear that he still holds the actor in the highest regard: “Christian is a very good guy, he's got no entourage, drives around in a pick-up truck, no assistant, he's just focused on being an actor, and he's really really a good guy .” The person McG really has a problem with? Whoever leaked the tape. “That's the proprietary material of Warner Bros. and Sony and the owners of the franchise... It was wildly illegal for that to be leaked in that capacity.”

-- Shatner and Nimoy refuse to talk Trek. The two sci-fi-cons, who have remained good friends since their days starring in the original Star Trek series and subsequent movies, have an unwritten agreement not to talk the popular franchise because they both feel as if they’ve been left out of it in recent years. Leonard Nimoy is upset at being left out of the Next Generation films and William Shatner is disappointed he wasn’t offered more than a brief cameo in J.J. Abrams’ latest film. Nimoy spoke to the Los Angeles Times and explained, “It’s not a fun subject right now. And I sympathise with him because I was left out of the Next Generation films. It is what it is. In the Next Generation movies, I did not appear and Kirk was killed. It was as though someone was trying to create a dividing line between the original, classic series and the New Generation crew. I was out and Bill was dead. I assumed that was it, it’s over. I didn’t feel great about it, but I was Ok with it.” Here’s hoping there is room for some appearances for both in one of the next films – the cast is signed on for two more – because as popular as this latest film has been, it’s just not the same without The Shatner.

-- Original Shatner ending to new Star Trek revealed. While we’re on the subject of the exclusion of William Shatner from the new film, the two main writers of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek have spoken to MTV about what was to be the original ending of the film – an ending which incorporated the original James T. Kirk. "We did write a Shatner scene," Roberto Orci revealed. "And we were ultimately split internally. We didn't want it to be a gimmick; we wanted to really bring him back in the right way." Apparently they intended to end the film as it appears in theatres but with the addition of a voice-over by veteran actor's character. When all was said and done though, the ending was scrapped. As Orci’s writing partner Alex Kurtzman explained, “Because Kirk died in the movies — he died in canon — it was very hard to come up with a way to bring him back in the movie that didn't feel contrived." Orci points out that it came down to the fact that "it wasn't quite enough to justify wasting his time." However, unlike Kurtzman, Orci felt it ultimately could’ve added something pretty special to the final film. "It was a nice voice-over. It was more than a scene," he explained. "I think it could have worked, personally." Maybe in the next one, gentlemen?

-- Gosling and Williams get Blue. According to Variety, both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams have signed on to star in the indie romantic drama, Blue Valentine. The film will focus on a couple watching their ten-year relationship crumble as they attempt to reflect on their happier times together. The casting news managed to raise some eyebrows within the industry as, prior to this, Gosling had been purposefully aiming his career away from characters similar to his role in the 2004 Nick Cassavettes tear-jerker The Notebook after that film catapulted him into the unwanted role of heartthrob. It would appear he’s no longer quite as concerned about being typecast. Little wonder he feels safe in returning to the genre that brought him into the mainstream as edgier roles in Half Nelson, Fracture, Lars and the Real Girl and the upcoming All Good Things have taken him far from the pitfalls of a romantic lead. The film is currently shooting in New York and Pennsylvania and is set for release in 2010.