William Shatner has confirmed that he has been approached to play a role in the new Star Trek movie.

The original Captain Kirk previously denied rumours that he would make a cameo in the upcoming reboot sequel, telling his Twitter followers that it was "just rhetoric to cause hype".

It had been suggested that Shatner's Kirk would reunite with Leonard Nimoy's Spock during a scene in Star Trek 3.

During an appearance at the Wizard World Nashville Comic-Con (via Trek Movie), Shatner appeared to backtrack on earlier denials, admitting that producer JJ Abrams had been in touch.

Asked if he would be interested in a part, Shatner said: "Oh, yeah. If it is meaningful."

He said that he would be "delighted" to make an appearance, before adding that he had been sworn to secrecy.

"So I get back from Australia, and it is all over the internet that the director held an interview and said they wanted Shatner and Nimoy to be in the next movie," he added. "I bet JJ is frothing at the mouth."

He also joked that it would be difficult to come up with a scenario in which he could appear. "How do you get me fifty years later into the movie?" he said. "I know it's science fiction, but even I couldn't come up with an idea."

Star Trek 3 is expected to open in cinemas in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry's original TV show.