See, I think a phrase like 'Star Trek Is A Mega Success' is sheer hyperbole. I think it's been modestly well received, and is certainly successful in context of Star Trek movies, but it isn't exactly breaking down the doors and blowing through the bar in the grand scheme of things. Look at the numbers most movies make and ST2009 and STiD aren't exactly top tier. They're healthy enough, but calling them a 'Mega Success' would be pushing it IMO.
star trek 2009 can be called a mega success based on trek standard and it been an origin story. the film grossed 257m in the USA and 127m worldwide. that is huge for trek. a franchise that did not even have an international box office record. However, after that success, the sequel should have increased highly like say captain america 2 or xmen: days of future past. Both films saw a huge increase in commercial success in comparison to their first origin films but trek did not.
Into darkness earning 229m in the USA and 467m worldwide is no mega success. the film should have earned at least 500-700m worldwide as it is a sequel from a successful first film based on an origin story like x-men first class and captain america the first avenger.
I do not think Paramount is happy with the box office intake of Into Darkness.they definitely expected more and so did I.
It was shocking when Into Darkness earned 70m in the first weekend considering how the first film had earned 79m in its first weekend. There was obviously something not right.
Well yeah, this was kind of my point. By
Trek movie standards, it hit it outta the park. No question there. The new movies have by far and away managed to exceed expectations on that score. But I do object to
AllStarEnterprise's assertion that the new movies have been a 'Mega Success'. That implies that the new movies have thrust Star Trek back into the A-Game. I think they've certainly restored some credibility to Star Trek in the eyes of the mainstream audience. But I certainly don't think either of the Abrams movies have actually broken into the top tier. They've both been relatively well received, but 'Mega Success'? No. Star Trek is still seen as a niche product. People are liking the movies, but from my experience they still aren't seeing them as anything bigger than the sum of the franchise as a whole. Which, as we know, exists within a kind of niche...
I think Paramount fumbled the play when it came to the new movies. I think Paramount
could have really spun this new round of Star Trek into a revitalization of the franchise, perhaps really broken out into that mainstream. I think Paramount made a few blunders that stopped them from doing this. Things like not getting a GOOD action figure line out there, or making some pretty elementary errors in terms of not publisizing the franchise as a whole off the back of the new movies' popularity. The video game tie-in was maybe their big BIG chance to really kick off the franchise and spin up some buzz, but as we know that didn't turn out so well. Part of the problem is undoubtedly the splitting of the movie and television divisions, so on some levels there was never the chance that they could ever present a united front in the name of 'Star Trek'. In order for modern Star Trek to
*truly* be a 'Mega Success', it needs to build a cache where it can stand toe-to-toe with other franchises out there, rather than simply being judged as being it's own little niche. I still don't think the two Abrams movies have done that. They're great, and they've been received well by a broad audience. But they aren't Big Time Players on the movie stage. Instead of being a feather in Abrams' cap, I can't help feeling that when history is written, they're just going to be a footnote in his career: those two little movies he did before taking center seat on Star Wars.
For better or worse, the phrase "Star Trek Movie" still carries some unfortunate negative connotations. The Abrams movies could've fixed that, but I don't think they have. People see the new movies are something 'other' than normal Star Trek. When, in reality, they could have done so much, to bring the broader audience on-board and make them accept Star Trek as being something that isn't the purvue of "those guys who dress up at conventions". Star Wars never gets negative publicity for this kind of thing, even though it's fans dress up too. That's what I'm talking about.
To call them anything close to a 'Mega Success' is, I fear, a misnomer.
