Star Trek: Rebuilding a Movie Franchise is Risky Business

Part of the fun of running a franchise news site is that there are so many different kinds of franchises to report. This weekend, it's time to talk about the Star Trek Movie franchise. Paramount pictures has released the eleventh film of the sagging Star Trek series. After budgeting $150 million, Director J.J. Abrams' newest incarnation of the franchise is about to significantly lift its average earnings. James Sanford At The Movies summarizes the predicament well:

The direction [Director] Abrams has taken with "Star Trek" lore may not sit well with longtime, hardcore fans. Yet that same irreverence and willingness to take chances could make the movie very appealing to people who might never have bothered to see a "Star Trek" movie before. The last "Star Trek" film, 2002's "Star Trek: Nemesis," only sold $43 million worth of tickets; I wouldn't be surprised if Abrams' overhaul does four or five times as much business.

And critics are largely going wild over the remake. For example, giving the movie 3.5 out of 4 stars, Rolling Stones writes:

"Summer officially hits warp speed with Star Trek, a burst of pure filmmaking exhilaration that manages to pay homage to the classic 1960s TV series and still boldly go where no man, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy included, has gone before. [...] It's an irresistible invitation for fun. What more can you ask of a summer movie?”

It probably will surprise few to learn that I have been a Trekkie for decades. But I’m not a fan of space opera. I’m a fan of using science fiction to pull the viewer out of the gravity of the here and now to better explore not space but the frontiers of humanity. It is to that point that film critic Roger Ebert is fairly critical of this film.

“The Gene Roddenberry [the original creator of the Star Trek television series] years, when stories might play with questions of science, ideals or philosophy, have been replaced by stories reduced to loud and colorful action."

Well said. But there shouldn't be any doubt that overseas ticket sales will make the risky investment in a largely action franchise pay off in spades.

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Related Reading:

How Star Trek Conquered the Universe