Do you think Trek XI will attract new fans?

[Saga]

no matter what it will be a date movie for some people out there. but yes, i'd say that XI has a better chance of making new fans than any of the past few movies did.

 

[I am not Spock]

When that recent Iron Man movie came out, you had tonnes of people who wouldn't have read a comic book in their life queuing round the block to see it. Same with the Dark Knight.

Paramount will probably advertise the hell out of Trek XI. I doubt the audience for the Get Smart remake was comprised of old-school Don Adams diehards (in fact, probably the total opposite). TPTB will target Abrams' film for a mass audience.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

^
^^ Well, frankly the film will need new fans to make money.

I disagree. And I disagree precisely because I DO agree with your next paragraph (emphasis mine):

I suppose the level of fandom is the question. I'm talking about attracting new people who simply want to see this film -- and possibly a sequel -- as opposed to attracting new fans to the existing fanbase.

I don't consider people who just go and see the movie 'fans'.

I've seen all the Superman movies, for example...and I even watch Smallville...but I don't consider myself to be a 'fan' of Superman. I know very little about that universe, in fact....and I read with interest when people bitch in the Smallville threads about stuff that happened in the comics that has never happened on Smallville, etc....because I have never read a Superman comic in my life.

To me, a fan is someone who is a fanatic about a franchise. That's what 'fan' means.

And someone who goes to a couple of movies but never goes any further than that is not a 'fan' IMO.

However, my point was that those are the people who need to fill the seats at this movie - not the FANS, because the fans won't generate enough revenue. No....we need the casual movie-goers to see this movie.

If they never watch a single episode of Trek, the casual movie-goers need to go to this film for it to make money.

 

[Eric Cheung]

I doubt the audience for the Get Smart remake was comprised of old-school Don Adams diehards (in fact, probably the total opposite).

Indeed. When I was a kid I was a huge Get Smart fan. So when I saw the movie there were some jokes that only I got because they were some of the more obscure references.

I think creatively speaking Get Smart is a pretty good idea of what we might expect. It seemed like a movie that tried to take a show from the 60s and make it seem real and contemporary.

Commercially, I think we'll know when we know how Paramount markets this thing.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

I'll tell you after the first trailer of film footage. At this point its pretty much all about presentation. If Nimoy is plastered on the screen and its a bunch of homages to the old movies and such, then no it's not going to.

If it's presented as something new, fresh, with a new vibe/feel to it then maybe it will.

 

[The Wormhole]

The movie will not attract new fans. Just a bunch of posers who think that because they like the movie they are Trek fans.

But to each poser, I will inform them that they are nothing more than a popularity leech pimping the flavour of the month. Real Trek fans are folks like me, who live and breathe Trek. I know who who Robert April is, I am familiar with the design specifications of the Excelsior class starship, can recognize the term "daj ba'wi" as a Klingon phrase, and know that the Federation signed the Treaty of Algeron with the Romulans in 2311. I have been mocked and ridiculed my whole life for being a Trek fan and knowing this info better than I know my own parents' birthdays. I am a Star Trek Fan. The fact that you've seen a movie you like and call yourself a Star Trek fan because of it makes me sick. I will then spit in their faces and push them to the ground. And hope they aren't violent people willing to fight back.

 

[I am not Spock]

When Trek XI hits theatres, I'll probably feel a bit like hardcore Tolkien nuts would have felt back when the LOTR movies were released a few years ago. For 50 years or so, they had the books to themselves. Suddenly, every man and his dog knew about it. It wasn't a cult anymore.
There's quite a lot of LOTR 'fans' who have never read the books.

 

[Balthier the Great]

When that recent Iron Man movie came out, you had tonnes of people who wouldn't have read a comic book in their life queuing round the block to see it. Same with the Dark Knight.

Paramount will probably advertise the hell out of Trek XI. I doubt the audience for the Get Smart remake was comprised of old-school Don Adams diehards (in fact, probably the total opposite). TPTB will target Abrams' film for a mass audience.

But comic book characters generally appeal to 14-18 year old boys. After the success of Spiderman and Superman, X-Men, and the Fantastic 4, the teenagers expect a fun movie when they hear about a comic book movie.

Trek has too much "Dork" vibe to get a lot of teens excited about seeing a Star Trek movie, especially since the last few moves set in space have pretty much sucked. Clone wars sucked, and I can't say much better of PM, AOTC, or ROTS. So people see space and they think die-hard loser fans. not something that teenage boys want to be seen buying tickets for.

 

[I am not Spock]

^ That's a shame that today's youth see space travel and the future as dorky. Remember when space was the coolest thing around (back in Trek and Star Wars' heyday?)

In the 2000's so far, I have noticed a tendency for the past to be 'cool' again. Fantasy epics like Harry Potter and LOTR. Sci fi for whatever reason seems 'old fashioned' to some folks. In the 90s scifi was all the rage. Independence Day, Men In Black, First Contact, Fifth Element, I couldn't get enough of it when I was a teenager.

 

[Kelso]

I don't think teenagers are going to make this film a success. Esp. not with Wolverine and Terminator opening in the same month.

Hopefully, the 30-Somethings who grew up with the TOS films and TNG will get a nostalgia trip and go see this with their kids.

For example: My 19 year old brother-in-law and his 17 year old girlfriend refused to go see Indy 4 because it was too old-fashioned... meanwhile, my 32 year old buddy and his 8 year old son went to the midnight showing wearing Indy hats and had a blast.

I really can't imagine the teenagers above going to see a Trek film... but my 32 year old buddy (who grew up with Trek but is not a big fan) will likely go see the new Trek film with his kid. Hell, he'll probably even show Wrath of Khan to his kid before going.

 

[Therin of Andor]

But comic book characters generally appeal to 14-18 year old boys.

An over-generalization, in my experience.

Clone wars sucked, and I can't say much better of PM, AOTC, or ROTS. So people see space and they think die-hard loser fans. not something that teenage boys want to be seen buying tickets for.

What? The teenaged boys still went to see all of these movies.

 

[Sector 7]

The new movie will draw in many new people, hopefully AFTER they see the film they will become fans.
We need new fans badly... Cogley & number6 are gettin old ya know! I heard M'Sharak is using a cane these days... yet somehow Sector 7 manages to stay ever-youthful...

 

[THE CHEBB]

I for one hope Trek XI will attract new fans.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I remain sceptical that this film can attract a younger (or new) fanbase which was not there before.

When Iron Man was being advertised, my know-it-all friend confidently said it would flop because "who has ever heard of Iron Man?" I told him he was full of it (as I often do ) and if it were a compelling story with a fun, well-acted lead character, it would be a big hit regardless of being low profile.

And if Iron Man could do that, why not Star Trek, which certainly is higher profile than a second-tier comic book character that non-comic-book readers are barely aware of at all?

Obviously, Trekkies will flock to see the film, but newbies will likely be put off by the (what they see as a) burden of 40 years of established heritage.

Only established fans would worry about the 40 year "burden." New fans may or may not check out the old stuff. How many people who went to see Iron Man are bothering to read the comics? Not many. It doesn't matter anyway.

The main thing is that the creators of Iron Man knew and respected the source material, and understood its core appeal. If Star Trek turns out the same way, I will be happy, even if very few of the new fans bother with the old stuff. It's not like I'm getting royalties.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

^
^^Very True.

...and how many of the millions who went to see Transformers checked out the 1980s cartoon or the kids' toys prior to seeing it, or how many of those who saw Spiderman checked out the comic book or the very bad 1960s cartoon.

Transformers is a cartoon based on a toy for God's sake...if that wasn't a burden to that film, Star Trek's past won't be a burden, either.

 

[Supervisor 194]

If the movie is good, it'll attract new fans. If it's not, it won't--simple as that.

 

[Lt_Wandrey]

I'm sure the movie will attract new fans. I don't see why it wouldn't.

What I hope they do is be in the same vein as the Original Series.

 

[Balthier the Great]

I remain sceptical that this film can attract a younger (or new) fanbase which was not there before.

When Iron Man was being advertised, my know-it-all friend confidently said it would flop because "who has ever heard of Iron Man?" I told him he was full of it (as I often do ) and if it were a compelling story with a fun, well-acted lead character, it would be a big hit regardless of being low profile.

And if Iron Man could do that, why not Star Trek, which certainly is higher profile than a second-tier comic book character that non-comic-book readers are barely aware of at all?

Obviously, Trekkies will flock to see the film, but newbies will likely be put off by the (what they see as a) burden of 40 years of established heritage.

Only established fans would worry about the 40 year "burden." New fans may or may not check out the old stuff. How many people who went to see Iron Man are bothering to read the comics? Not many. It doesn't matter anyway.

The main thing is that the creators of Iron Man knew and respected the source material, and understood its core appeal. If Star Trek turns out the same way, I will be happy, even if very few of the new fans bother with the old stuff. It's not like I'm getting royalties.

Well, yeah, but before they could LIKE it, they must try it. And Ironman built off of the success of all the other wildly successful comicbook movies. Because the core audience had already heard how cool X-men, Spidey, Superman, and Fantastic 4 were, they were pretty likely to hear about a new comicbook movie and think "fun adventure". It's not like no one had seen a good comicbook movie in the last 5 years.

Trek has the opposite. Space movies haven't been very good probably since First Contact (and that's not even all that great). The new SW Trilogy was okish, but not great. Heck the last one seemed like a tech demo more than a movie. There aren't a lot of past successes to build from -- nothing about the last 7-8 space movies really inspires confidence. So they'll be more skeptical of a space movie than a fantasy flick (which would build on Harry Potter and LOTR), or a spy movie (like Bourne or Bond). Past success of a genre breeds more success.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Past success of a genre breeds more success.

Or, a good genre movie sets a brand new trend.

 

[I am not Spock]

^Precisely. Lucas was turned down by every movie studio in town when he proposed 'Star Wars'. They told him SF was dead.