There is no "magic pill" for a Star Trek film to be successful. It just needs to be good. And the answer to the aged-old "Why wasn't [blank] more successful?" is almost always because it wasn't as good as you think it is.
Appeals to popularity should always be avoided, of course. But as a baseline usually stuff that's popular is popular because it's good. And if something is good is becomes popular. (And no, this is not at all saying that there's any direct correlation between quality and box office or that the adjusted box office list and 'best film of all time' list should be one in the same.)
To wit TVH, FC, and Oh-Nine are the three best Star Trek films. So much so, that I could in another time and place - provided the will and care - make a pretty substantial objective argument for each -- and this with the understanding that I don't even really like FC all that much and TVH is probably my third-favorite TOS film.
If we want to get into the greater Star Trek success as a film franchise, well then it's a issue of consistency and trend. (I.e. the odd-even thing.)
The popularity of comic movies didn't just happen. Superman was a big deal. But it's follow-up was weak and all other attempts at a superhero movie at the time were shit. Batman was an even bigger deal (The biggest of its time.) But it's follow up was even weaker and the other attempts at a superhero movie at the time were also shit.
But then you had X-Men and Spidey. Two solid movies in a row. More importantly, however, each had a sequel that was substantially better. And they were soon followed by Begins and Ironman. So within the span of about a half a decade, you had a very solid trend of six films.
Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon that no one can really account for beyond "right place, right time". But the reason why Star Wars is the biggest IP in the world is because that phenomenon was followed by one of the best films of all time. Had Empire been -say- Clones quality, then Star Wars would just be that thing that happened that time and Gina Carano would be nothing more than a random crazy D-tier actor on Twitter.
Had Beyond been the follow up Kelvin film (as is), I think the current climate of the franchise would look substantially different. Though I suppose the "weakness" of the latter two Kelvin films has a lot to do with the lethargic apathy of a studio circling the drain as their actual quality. (Though ID Is pretty mediocre film, even if I do like it better than most.)
As for Yeoh, the anecdotal bias here is unbelievable. (Actually, I totally believe it.) "I've never heard of her." isn't an argument. There exist people in the world who've never heard of Michael Jackson or Princess Diana. And they're probably the two most universally recognized humans after that JC fellow.
Someone has already posted the best of her credits, which speaks for itself. And I can say with good confidence that significantly more people in North America know who she is than don't. But across China and most of Eastern Asia, Michelle Yeoh is a fucking icon. In fact, across all eight billion peeps, Yeoh is probably the most recognized figure in franchise history.
And it's pretty much a given that whatever from the post-COVID industry takes, it's going to need the Asian markets more than ever.
Appeals to popularity should always be avoided, of course. But as a baseline usually stuff that's popular is popular because it's good. And if something is good is becomes popular. (And no, this is not at all saying that there's any direct correlation between quality and box office or that the adjusted box office list and 'best film of all time' list should be one in the same.)
To wit TVH, FC, and Oh-Nine are the three best Star Trek films. So much so, that I could in another time and place - provided the will and care - make a pretty substantial objective argument for each -- and this with the understanding that I don't even really like FC all that much and TVH is probably my third-favorite TOS film.
If we want to get into the greater Star Trek success as a film franchise, well then it's a issue of consistency and trend. (I.e. the odd-even thing.)
The popularity of comic movies didn't just happen. Superman was a big deal. But it's follow-up was weak and all other attempts at a superhero movie at the time were shit. Batman was an even bigger deal (The biggest of its time.) But it's follow up was even weaker and the other attempts at a superhero movie at the time were also shit.
But then you had X-Men and Spidey. Two solid movies in a row. More importantly, however, each had a sequel that was substantially better. And they were soon followed by Begins and Ironman. So within the span of about a half a decade, you had a very solid trend of six films.
Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon that no one can really account for beyond "right place, right time". But the reason why Star Wars is the biggest IP in the world is because that phenomenon was followed by one of the best films of all time. Had Empire been -say- Clones quality, then Star Wars would just be that thing that happened that time and Gina Carano would be nothing more than a random crazy D-tier actor on Twitter.
Had Beyond been the follow up Kelvin film (as is), I think the current climate of the franchise would look substantially different. Though I suppose the "weakness" of the latter two Kelvin films has a lot to do with the lethargic apathy of a studio circling the drain as their actual quality. (Though ID Is pretty mediocre film, even if I do like it better than most.)
As for Yeoh, the anecdotal bias here is unbelievable. (Actually, I totally believe it.) "I've never heard of her." isn't an argument. There exist people in the world who've never heard of Michael Jackson or Princess Diana. And they're probably the two most universally recognized humans after that JC fellow.
Someone has already posted the best of her credits, which speaks for itself. And I can say with good confidence that significantly more people in North America know who she is than don't. But across China and most of Eastern Asia, Michelle Yeoh is a fucking icon. In fact, across all eight billion peeps, Yeoh is probably the most recognized figure in franchise history.
And it's pretty much a given that whatever from the post-COVID industry takes, it's going to need the Asian markets more than ever.
