10 Awesome Planned Movie Cameos (That Sadly Never Happened)

Cameo appearances can be an art in themselves. When they’re pulled off right – think Bill Murray in Zombieland or Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder – they can almost steal the entire film. When they’re done wrong, you get Madonna’s scene in Die Another Day or Tarantino's Aussie accent in Django Unchained.

Often times they’re just a fun easter egg for audiences, but they can also be used at key moments to add emotional weight to the story. It’s always a little heartbreaking to hear about a planned cameo that never came to pass, and be stuck only imagining how cool it could have been. Sadly, sometimes an actor's too busy, or didn't like the scene as written, or, most unsurprisingly, they weren't offered enough money for it.

There’s a whole graveyard littered with amazing planned cameo appearances that never happened, and here we’ll be looking at some of the coolest. Who’s to say if they actually would have worked out well, but the mind boggles at the possibilities.

Star Trek 2009 proved if you’re going to reintroduce classic characters, then time travel is the way to do it. While the story itself was a bit messy, the film was perfectly cast and had a lot of heart thanks to J.J. Abrams direction. The director also threw in lots of easter eggs and references for fans to enjoy and even convinced Leonard Nimoy to return as Spock Prime.

Fans, of course, held out hope for a William Shatner cameo, which sadly didn’t happen. It turns out a scene was written that featured a recording from older Kirk – before his death in Generations – where he wishes Spock Prime a happy birthday and ponders their years spent exploring the galaxy together.

It’s a surprisingly well-written scene and would have caused a few manly tears, but Abrams ultimately felt it was too pandering and didn’t even send it to Shatner to see what he thought.