Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI?

[GhostFaceSaint]

"Star Trek" (XI) production cost around $150 million and its in theater gross was $385 million surpassing the box office gross and number of tickets sold by previous films benchmarks made by "The Motion Picture" and "IV - The Voyage Home" but can JJ Abrams and his production replicate the success of the first film (XI)?

We all know Star Trek was presumed dead by Paramount and TV exec's after Star Trek Nemesis bombed at the box office followed by the cancellation of "Enterprise" in 2005, one producer even infamously stated that Trek would be dead for at least ten years while the franchise rested, yet "Star Trek" (XI) was the biggest Trek success to date but has Star Trek really come back?

Star Trek's twelfth film is due in 2011 with Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman busily brainstorming the script which they plan to submit to paramount by Christmas and production due to start some time late in the spring. From the recent interviews with Orci and Kurtzman they have stated two important factors that they prefer quality so expect don't lots of back to back Trek films being produced, and they won't retread the paths of other scripts IE rehash old stories because only the die-hards would appreciate that, if they revisit old characters they want to create new experiences for movie viewers with those characters. To me this is both wise and more fascinating because it means that Star Trek can stay fresh and alive but...

...That doesn't mean they will necessarily replicate the success of their first film, they could do everything right even satisfy the Trekkies/Trekkers but that still won't guarantee success for the next two films, worse yet they could alienate the die-hard fans and still fail at the box office killing Trek probably for good. Star Trek hasn't arrived yet not until we see XII and XIII in theaters so can they do it, can they truly bring Star Trek back to a to life as a thriving franchise? Or is this the twilight hour for our beloved Star Trek?

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

Re: Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI

Personally I believe that if any production team can save Star Trek this group can, they have talent, have already produced one solid film, and although there is lots of room to screw up, they will hopefully balance their approach to the next films with both daring story ideas tempered with caution in everything they do.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI

Financially, I haven't a clue.

Creatively, sure they could do better. XI was a pretty straightforward revenge story with an only-okay villain who didn't add anything much to our understanding of Romulans (and didn't even need to be a Romulan to make the story work).

Come up with a more sophisticated story with a better villain, and you could easily have a better movie.

We all know Star Trek was presumed dead by Paramount and TV exec's after Star Trek Nemesis bombed at the box office followed by the cancellation of "Enterprise" in 2005, one producer even infamously stated that Trek would be dead for at least ten years while the franchise rested

Which I knew was idiocy at the time (and said so several times around these parts). The franchise never needed to be "rested." It needed people at the helm who had the first clue what they were doing. I personally never presumed it was dead. It was a badly managed brand name in need of competent revitalization, which could have happened at any time.

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

Re: Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI

I happen to agree with you Temis, I believe that good stories sell themselves and that for a time there Star Trek was in some very bad hands, and the stories that were told were awful. I think that the next film has a great opportunity to really wow movie goers and create more Trekkies/Trekkers and expand on the first (XI) films success. Despite the basic revenge plot being a little old the story told in Star Trek (XI) was very emotional, very well performed, and was in the right spirit for Trek. I don't think that this will be a case of Transformers 2 (that was Bay's fault for having no thinking in it) but Star Trek II laying the foundation in the first film and following it up with an even better one.

By the way I don't expect the new film to have another revenge plot at all, Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman I believe know better than to do that again, they will probably want to do something new and hopefully exciting.

 

[I am not Spock]

Re: Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI

Trek XI was a good first lap, but they haven't won the race yet. Trek XII should, in fact, must do better; before we can truly declare Star Trek 'back from a near death experience'.

The real test is to see how XII performs at the box office. I think much of XI's B.O take was probably still mostly Trekkies. Hopefully, enough of the general public liked it that they'll spread the word to their friends next time.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

Re: Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI

Ooh, I know how this goes: the second one is better than the first, the third one is inferior but still entertaining and the fourth is a disaster that everyone tries to forget about. Then they relaunch the franchise by casting Christian Bale as Kirk.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI

The next movie will be a bigger success than this one. After that, it's hard to guess.

The second films in these popular franchises tend to hit very big because the branding is successfully established and a demand for more created by the first one.

Prior to Abrams's Star Trek, only hard-core fans really gave a damn whether more Trek was produced and a general demand had to be pumped up where none existed via marketing. There are many, many more people interested in seeing a Star Trek movie today than there were a year ago.

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: Can Star Trek XII and XIII match or even surpass the success of XI

Word of mouth about the first one and critical acclaim led to the big numbers. I think once people get a hold of the DVD that didn't see it in theaters, it'll bring those in for Trek XI. Trek XI definitely has the ability to make giant wads of cash. It'll probably be a better story too now that they don't have to do an origin tale.