It made money. In those terms, as far as those who count the beans go, it was a success.
It brought in countless people to movie theatres who had never seen Star Trek before. That was part of the objective, so in those terms it was a success.
Critically, the movie was a something of a darling. So in terms of getting the media to say positive things about a franchise that at the time was dead in the water… yes, it was a success.
It’s a rather fannish take to look at it and declare it a failure because a minority of hardcore fans reacted badly to it. ST09 did everything Paramount expected of it and more.
Of course ST09 was a success in other words. Whether or not you (or I or any other member of this board) liked it is by the by. I didn’t particularly enjoy ‘Joker’ from a few years back, but I wouldn’t declare it a failure.
But did the "success" last?
I don't think so.
I think that the Star Trek fanbase has suffered because of the bad productions of later years and lack of what we can call "worldwide expose". The whole Trek fanbase are split up like Kazon sects, defending their territory and bickering with each other.
Those "hardcore fans which you unfortunarely dismiss are just the fans which have kept Star Trek alive during all centuries and most likely will keep it alive for centuries if they aren't so bored with later productions that they simply give up.
While those "countless people" you mention might be those who have no real interest in Star Trek. They just saw ST09 as something trendy and watched it because of that. Then they left for other trendy stuff.
There are examples where certain entertainers have tried to adapt to temporary trends in order to gain more popularity and it has backfired.
I remember a certain heavy rock band which had great succes in the 80's which tried to gain more fans by adapting to the current softer trend whiich was going at some point. They made an album which was a bit different from what they had done before and more adapted to new trends.
That really backfired. The old hardcore fans thought that they had sold out and all those new fans they wanted to attract didn't care. The album was a failure.
The band realized their mistake and the next album was a return to the old style. But it was too late!
They did get thir reputation back but never reached the heights of popularity they once had. But they are still going, thanks to those hardcore fans who have remained.
I once had the opportunity to talk to a rock musician whose band have had some success. He said that "I rather play for 30 enthusiasts who really love our music than for 1000 people who aren't interested."
