Is Trek popular enough to be a Summer Blockbuster?

[22 Stars]

The reason that Paramount gave for moving Star Trek to next summer was that they wanted it to be a 'tent-pole' picture for the studio. They believe in the film and in JJ. That's all great, and not one person on this board knows any better, we don't know if the rushes look THAT good, but what I want to know is do 'we' the fans think that Star Trek in general is popular enough to give this Trek a chance to be a summer blockbuster?

In the interest of full disclosure, I and many of my friends used to work for Paramount, and know a good deal about these decisions. The lack of product that Paramount has to release next summer has a bit to do with this decision I'm sure, but I have no doubt they want to raise the bar for rebirth of the Trek franchise, and are ready to make this bet and give Trek prime summer release-date real estate.

My personal opinion is that Trek has the one thing you do need, a name with a recognition factor, and no huge negatives. Like Transformers, Iron Man and Lord of the Rings, people know the name Star Trek, have a vague understanding that it's sci-fi, adventure, and given enough preview clips will see a lot of great action and special effects.

The casual movie fan doesn't know the names of any Trek film, except 'Oh yeah the one with the whales, that came out the year I was born I think', and that could help the new Trek this May.

 

[LutherSloan]

If Marvel can get Iron Man to make $300+ million, Abrams can make Trek into a big money franchise. There were a LOT of doubts that Iron Man would be successful, since he wasn't a household superhero name like Spider-Man, The Hulk, Superman, or Batman.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

I don't know. I'm sceptical but hopeful.

I think there might be a difference between how Iron Man and Star Trek are perceived, at least judging by my dealings with people.

I would mention I am into Iron Man, the response would be 'Who?'
I would mention I am into Star Trek, the response would be 'Really? That sorta crap?'

Comic book stuff seems to be regarded as pretty cool by mainstream audience nowadays, but can the same be said for sci-fi and Star Trek in particular?

 

[ancient]

The whole point of this movie is to MAKE Star Trek into a summer blockbuster franchise.

Similarly as with Batman Begins and the last Bond movie, this is an attempt to draw Trek away from the mediocre/bad product and apathetic response.

To a lot of people, Trek has not existed since TNG ended. I think getting back to TOS was a good choice.

If there is one part of Trek untained by the air of uncoolness among the general populace, it'd be called "Kirk and Spock".

 

[22 Stars]

I totally agree with you guys, and ancient makes a good point I forgot to mention, bringing Trek back to Kirk and Spock. That has been and always will be what Star Trek is to most people and JJ and his crew know that, and I repect their insight to keep that in the fore.

TPTB really did mismanange the franchise in my opinion starting with running two Trek series in parallel. I love DS9, but putting that on before TNG was off and then launching UPN with Voyager, in competition with DS9 in some markets really diluted the ability of the casual fan to know what Trek was. It's one thing for Bond to have actor after actor play the lead, but to have multiple series and movies, with multiple 'Stars' and 'Heroes' it just lost a lot of people.

 

[PowderedToastMan]

Trek certainly has better brand awareness than Iron Man or Transformers did before they became hits, but is still not as strong of a brand as Indiana Jones or Star Wars. Plus Trek has some negatives to overcome due to poorly received product over the last decade. However a good marketing program in 2009 should be able to remind people why they loved Trek and inform them this is a new and different Trek.

 

[Warp14]

Sci Fi in the wrong hands is as tedious as a root canal. If the new movie has a fun popcorn movie feel with your required explosions, humor, decent story and chemistry between the characters...then this could be THE summer movie.

If it is overblown, slow moving, uncomfortably stiff Sci Fi like ST:TMP, then we'd be better off watching Jumper 2, Hancock 2, Iron Man 2, Men in Black 3, etc.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I would mention I am into Star Trek, the response would be 'Really? That sorta crap?'

You know, maybe I'm selective about who I hang around with, but I don't think I know anyone who'd diss ST as "that sorta crap". In my experience, people might not follow ST but they generally recognise it as a successful, positive show/franchise.

 

[trevanian]

Historically, it hasn't been one. No trek release in summer since st 5 in 89, and so no successful trek movie release since TWOK and SFS in 82 and 84.

By way of comparison, the Bond movies also gave up on summer after 1989 ... and by staying with winter, they have cleaned up like you wouldn't believe.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

I would mention I am into Star Trek, the response would be 'Really? That sorta crap?'

You know, maybe I'm selective about who I hang around with, but I don't think I know anyone who'd diss ST as "that sorta crap". In my experience, people might not follow ST but they generally recognise it as a successful, positive show/franchise.

I'd like to add to what Therin said and to re-iterate what Ancient said...

...even if there is the perception of "Star Trek is OK, but it's too geeky for me", the whole point of this film (and I surmise its eventual ad campaign) is to make the franchise NOT geeky anymore. Abrams is specifically setting out to make Star Trek the must-see movie event of next summer -- the type of movie that a typical moviegoer would be embarrassed to admit that he DIDN'T see.

He's trying to break the Star Trek franchise out of the niche that it has fallen into. Not just by making a movie and hoping people will see it, but he is actively trying to make Star Trek seem less like a "geek thing" and more like a mainstream film. We haven't seen the real ad campaigns yet, but I bet they are not aimed at the fans, but at everyone else.

Whether he can achieve that or not is yet to be seen, but that's his plan.

The bottom line is this:

Abrams is not making "Star Trek XI: Yet Another Film in the Franchise"; he's making "Star Trek".

 

[Franklin]

As mentioned above by several posters, Trek has brand awareness, but there's baggage attached to it. Abrams has apparently stripped off the baggage. If it's not a reboot, it's at least a return to the basics -- or literally the origin -- of what created Trek fans in the first place.
It was Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the others that drew me (then and still a non-sci-fi or comic book person) into the Trek world in the first place.
I also find it heartening that there is supposed to be a lot of humor in XI. Another of TOS's attractions was it was mostly fun. It was obvious the characters liked where they were and what they were doing (even McCoy). TOS wasn't lightweight, but it was the only Trek series that avoided taking itself too seriously. There was a twinkle in Kirk's eye Picard never had.

The most successful TOS cast movie, TVH, was fun. Even the most successful TNG movie, FC, was a bit of a romp. If there is that sense of fun in this movie, it will attract a wide audience and be the summer blockbuster Paramount certainly hopes for.

 

[PointedEars04]

I don't think we need to put too much emphasis on the success or not of past Trek movies. Batman movies in the 90s devolved to campiness and very poor products, perhaps moreso than the later Trek movies. Look what Christopher Nolan did with that franchise.

It isn't fair for comparison yet, only for conjecture, that J.J. Abrams could do to Star Trek what Nolan did to Batman. Star Trek was once mainstream (1970s) to the point that they came back with the movies and subsequent series. The product soured lately, but going back to its roots with a dynamic creative team is a good start, at the very least. Enough attention, a good marketing campaign, and it is very possible that Star Trek will be in vogue next summer and the summers to come.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

I would mention I am into Star Trek, the response would be 'Really? That sorta crap?'

You know, maybe I'm selective about who I hang around with, but I don't think I know anyone who'd diss ST as "that sorta crap". In my experience, people might not follow ST but they generally recognise it as a successful, positive show/franchise.

Well, there are qualities to people that are more important than wether they like or dislike Star Trek, so it is not that I am not selective about who I hang out with. In fact, a couple of my friends were introduced to Trek through me, but they had to put aside preconceptions about the show first. It is my experience that Star Trek in particular is plagued by some pretty heavy preconceptions. Sometimes mentioning the name alone is enough to inspire dread in people.

I wish it were different but in my experience a lot of people who do not follow ST consider it an inaccessible, geeky show with characters that are impossible to relate to and wear pajamas 24/7. Maybe I've had a few too many bad runins with closedminded people though.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

He's trying to break the Star Trek franchise out of the niche that it has fallen into. Not just by making a movie and hoping people will see it, but he is actively trying to make Star Trek seem less like a "geek thing" and more like a mainstream film. We haven't seen the real ad campaigns yet, but I bet they are not aimed at the fans, but at everyone else.

That's certainly the big aim of this movie and I hope it will succeed. If people are willing to look beyond the name 'Star Trek' and actually watch the trailer they will see that is not more of the same old inaccessable stuff. I admire the effort to break the mould.

 

[shapeshifter]

I totally agree with you guys, and ancient makes a good point I forgot to mention, bringing Trek back to Kirk and Spock. That has been and always will be what Star Trek is to most people and JJ and his crew know that, and I repect their insight to keep that in the fore.

*snip*

"Bromance"

From Superbad to Pineapple Express, (and an upcoming film: "I Love you, Man") Straight Male Bonding is, for whatever reason, a hot item today.

Seeing Kirk & Spock Bromancing each other could serve as reason some people who may not particularity care a great deal for Trek to see it. Throw a 'jealous' McCoy into the mix and you have a Bromantic Sci-Fi Adventure Drama for the age.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I think that this film will be, yeah. I don't think that Trek's previous history enters into it all that much.

 

[Squiggy]

The whole point of this movie is to MAKE Star Trek into a summer blockbuster franchise.

Yeah. I'm not worried that much. Paramount is going to advertise the ever living shit out of this because they've already invested so much into it.

It's not going to be like the X-Files where they throw a couple of spots on TV a week or two out.

 

[22 Stars]

I am optimistic, but part of me is worried that the press junket that preceeds the opening will have a bitt less 'juice' because the actors will be so distanced from the project by that time... it's an intangible that we'll just have to wait and see how that plays out.

I enjoyed Trek as a holiday Nov/Dec release, and have bad memories of '89 when Trek tried to be a summer movie. But those were different times, and that was the 'worst' classic Trek film.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

TWOK and TSFS both opened in the Summer and did quite well for their time.

 

[22 Stars]

lol, that was over 25 years ago and before IV, which worked so perfectly as a holiday picture. Believe me, I think the new Trek will do BIG business, and was made with the summer blockbuster mentality and budget.