Paramount doesn’t know what to do with Star Trek. It’s one of their few big-name properties. After the excellent last installment in the series, Star Trek Beyond, wasn’t enough of a hit, the studio got cold feet about the franchise’s future. Should they bring Chris Hemsworth back to the franchise with a time travel story? Make an R-rated Quentin Tarantino-directed Star Trek movie? Paramount doesn’t know what to do. Actor/writer/official Trek spokesperson Simon Pegg points to their handling of the last Trek movie as a part of why the new rebooted franchise stopped going after three movies.
Trek at the Box-Office
As much excitement surrounded the 2009 reboot, it was only a hit domestically. For whatever reason, the new Star Trek movies haven’t reached a huge global audience. The ‘09 reboot made $385 million worldwide and Into Darkness saw an increase with $467 million, but maybe the best of them, Star Trek Beyond, only made $343 million. For a movie that cost $185 million, plus P & A money, that box-office toll is too low.
No Marvel Money
Because Star Trek isn’t a big moneymaker today when every studio wants their big properities to gross a billion dollars, don’t expect more of these movies anytime soon. As Pegg told Total Film, they may not be worth the cost:
“The fact is, ‘Star Trek’ movies don’t make Marvel money. They make maybe $500 million at the most, and to make one now, on the scale they’ve set themselves, is $200 million. You have to make three times that to make a profit.”
A Botched Marketing Job
The last Star Trek movie came out during the 50th anniversary of the classic television show. Did the ads mention that? Not really. It was a historic nerd occasion, but Paramount didn’t take advantage of that fact, says Pegg:
They didn’t really take advantage of the 50th anniversary. The regimen at the time dropped the ball on the promo of the film. And we’ve lost momentum. I think losing Anton [Yelchin] was a huge blow to our little family, and our enthusiasm to do another one might have been affected by that. So I don’t know.
Yelchin, who played Chekov, passed away in 2016 at the age of 27 from a terrible accident. It was a tragic death. Since his passing, it’s understandable the Trek cast wouldn’t be thrilled about moving forward without him on deck.
What’s the Deal with Trek These Days?
As far as movies go, Star Trek remains in limbo. Again, the property is incredibly popular on television with CBS’ Picard and Star Trek: Discovery. Thus far, both shows have satisfied fans and critics. The wonders of Trek and space, though, is so cinematic it’d be a shame if more Trek movies weren’t made anytime soon, especially with the ‘09 cast. They were fantastic together.
Star Trek Into Darkness may have hurt the new franchise’s momentum since it wasn’t nearly as exciting as director J.J. Abrams’ reboot, but Star Trek Beyond was a blast. If the new cast’s time is done and ends with Beyond, at least they went out on top.
What’s Next for Star Trek?
Although Paramount has been weighing their options for the property these last few years, right now they’re eyeing a new reboot from Fargo and Legion creator, Noah Hawley. Following the critical and financial failure of Hawley’s ambitious feature directorial debut, Lucy in the Sky, he was hired to direct a new Trek reboot. New cast and faces, according to Hawley. Whether his vision for Trek ever makes it to screen, time will tell. There’s reason to believe it won’t, based on all the wildly different ideas for the franchise tossed around these past few years.
