More than that, I think TMP's price tag included the aborted Phase II TV project, which went into preproduction.
Could they make a film like TMP again?
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If that's the case, then its likely the film's profits didn't even equal its published budget.
He didn't get another shot until TNG. He was pretty much banned from the film side.
He didn't last there for very long either, mainly because of his failing health (he'd abused cigarettes, alcohol, and cocaine for years). Rick Berman said he'd stopped writing by the end of Season 3, yet his last on-screen credit was Season 1's "Datalore".
No, those expenses were included in the budget.
More cerebral but distinctly low-budget TV movies I could see — something where they don’t have recoup billions of dollars, and by low-budget I mean like old-style teleplays with no more than two or three sets total and limited or nonexistent effects shots. I don’t think they’d do it, because the franchise has created a viewer expectation of cinematic-level production values (and of course, heavily action-adventure plots); but I’d certainly happily watch such.
Could they make another film like TMP? Maybe.
Should they? Absolutely.
Will they? Absolutely not.
Should they? Absolutely.
Will they? Absolutely not.
why should they?
Because having a Star Trek film that deals with an actual science fiction concept and is not an action thriller about some villain coming for ill-defined “revenge” would be kinda nice.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) - Financial Information
Financial analysis of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) including budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, total earnings and profitability.
m.the-numbers.com
| Theatrical Performance | ||
| Domestic Box Office | $82,258,456 | Details |
| International Box Office | $56,741,544 | Details |
| Worldwide Box Office | $139,000,000 |
If a modern big budget film's domestic box office intake more than doubles it's budget, it's considered a profound success. The vast majority of films in 1979-80 only made a small fraction of their profits internationally.
TMP was obviously a notable hit. Paramount may have unrealistically been aiming for Star Wars-type numbers, but that doesn't diminish it's accomplishments. This kind of movie was never going to attract children and teens the way A New Hope did.
TMP perfectly encapsulates the Zeitgeist of 1970s "New Hollywood" - it was a serious film about serious issues, presented as realistically as possible by artists who were allowed to express themselves. The flyby's of the Enterprise are painting a picture of life in space and the elegant miracle that is the ship and her crew - it is art taking precedence over narrative and action. Indeed, it's far more emblematic of it's era than Star Wars.
There have been serious, big budget sci-fi films that have been successful over the last 10-12 years. Interstellar is probably the best example. If they ever give a film to an actual auteur like Christopher Nolan or David Fincher, then we'd probably get something much more akin to TMP than ST09. These directors make serious films that don't get weighed down with action, schlock or political messages. That's because they're auteurs who seem to be allowed to make the films they want to make. Unfortunately, there are no longer that many "star" directors out there who are given free rein, more or less.
Predictably, they'll keep using work-for-hire types like J.J. Abrams, who have no problem taking orders from executives as long as it results in a big payday.
I assume these are the reasons the Tarantino film never happened.
There have been serious, big budget sci-fi films that have been successful over the last 10-12 years. Interstellar is probably the best example. If they ever give a film to an actual auteur like Christopher Nolan or David Fincher, then we'd probably get something much more akin to TMP than ST09. These directors make serious films that don't get weighed down with action, schlock or political messages. That's because they're auteurs who seem to be allowed to make the films they want to make. Unfortunately, there are no longer that many "star" directors out there who are given free rein, more or less.
Predictably, they'll keep using work-for-hire types like J.J. Abrams, who have no problem taking orders from executives as long as it results in a big payday.
I assume these are the reasons the Tarantino film never happened.
Amen. Of the six TOS films, two of them did not feature an actual villain. Plus, in those six films, we got hard sci-fi, straight-up comedy, space opera, action adventure, etc. It's time to introduce some variety back into the films.
When you create an environment without much room for error, and count on big tent pole films without any other revenue streams to make up for losses you create the environment were big paydays are sought after.
Maybe Denis Villeneuve can do it.
I would actually watch such a movie if they made it. I like TMP quite a bit, and I prefer it over quite a few of the other TOS movies. That being said... they could make such a movie. They won't, though, for various reasons already listed in this thread. Too bad. I lost interest in Trek movies a long time ago (when JJ Abrams took over), and a movie in the style of TMP just might bring me back. But then I'm just one guy and not the "action-oriented audience" the studio seems to want to attract so desperately. 
I think they could make (and not lose money on) these if they were willing to do them cheaply — which admittedly is a hard sell when audiences seem to demand cinematic-level special effects. I think you could easily do high-concept, “bottle-show” type telefilms that are essentially stage plays set on the bridge, the story and situation conveyed pretty much entirely with dialogue — I’d watch it, but would enough television viewers? On the other hand, if it’s substantially cheaper as a result, might a substantially smaller audience take be acceptable? (I don’t claim to know the economics, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it wouldn’t — but in the old days TV and even smaller-budget film could do things this way just fine.)
(I could picture a bridge-set-only teleplay version of TMP, or even of TWOK.)
(I could picture a bridge-set-only teleplay version of TMP, or even of TWOK.)
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