Rick Berman on 76.5 Million Dollar Trek

[MichaelStivic]

What would Rick Berman say to explain why Star Trek Nemesis did so poorly compared to the new Star Trek movie?

Obviously, Rick had the whole Star Trek universe to work within. But Abrams clearly had a budget no Star Trek had before.

Berman's defense mechanisms must be working right now, if only internally. What would you say to defend Berman? What is he telling himself?

By the way, I respect Rick Berman and his work on Star Trek. I think both First Contact and Insurrection were good movies. And I think he did preserve something special all those years. I think his worst work was in ruining the great concepts that were Voyager and Enterprise with poor storytelling. Voyager's pilot was one of the best TV pilots ever and Enterprise had great potential which it finally showed in Season 4.

I very much want to hear what you think Berman must be thinking now, especially what reasons he'd be giving about why he couldn't bring Star Trek to such heights as Abrams has.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Who cares? If he's a mature adult I'm sure he's gotten on with his life and is probably glad Star Trek is profitable again.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I don't know what he's doing right now, but I don't think he's feeling bad about about a new movie making a lot of money. he's probably not thinking about it much at all. I could be wrong.

 

[Chess Piece Face]

I don't know what he's thinking, but I'm thinking "HA HA" in Nelson's voice from the Simpsons. Fuck Rick Berman, this should have happened a while ago.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I'd assume he's thinking "I wish my name was on the credits"

 

[El Chupacabra]

If I were Berman the only thing I would regret would be never having been given the same budget. He must her realised a while back now that while he is to be thoroughly commended for his outstanding work over the years, he was definately becoming stale and stuck in his ways by the time we got to Voyager, Enterprise and INS. I'm sure he understands it was time for fresh blood now that he is looking from the outside it. I think while he was still there he probably felt that since he was Gene's personal protegé he had a duty to shepherd the franchise. Only problem was that the studio and the fans didn't look at it the same way.

 

[El Chupacabra]

I very much want to hear what you think Berman must be thinking now, especially what reasons he'd be giving about why he couldn't bring Star Trek to such heights as Abrams has.

"Such heights"?

I would say that three spin off shows and four movies are a much greater achievement than one movie where JJ had the benefit of a much greater budget.

 

[Phily B]

The two spin off shows he was in charge of esentially killed the franchise. Enterprise crapped all over canon far worse than this film ever did, not to mention how horrible it was.

 

[jeff lebowski]

I very much want to hear what you think Berman must be thinking now, especially what reasons he'd be giving about why he couldn't bring Star Trek to such heights as Abrams has.

Well, he was at least good enough to squeeze 3 tv shows and several movies out of Paramount, so I think he reached pretty good height on that.

 

[Lumen]

This film is probably the most successful Star Trek incarnation since The Next Generation. That might not be saying a whole lot, but there it is.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Every time I see one of these threads I think maybe it's actually about what this guy had to say about the movie. I would be mildly curious about that, though completely unsurprised that it would turn out to be something professional and supportive.

Alternatively, it would be fun to read the thread and discover that Berman is today's featured mugshot at The Smoking Gun, having been arrested at 2:00 AM drunkenly wandering down the middle of Sepulveda in his underwear or pounding on Abrams front door screaming unintelligible but probably ethnically offensive obscenities before passing out.

It's never either of those things. It's always just another example of the fact that fans think about this guy a lot more often than he could imaginably think about them.

 

[Phily B]

This film is probably the most successful Star Trek incarnation since The Next Generation. That might not be saying a whole lot, but there it is.

First Contact made 150m worldwide and was extremely profitable, but that was about it for TNG. I think DS9 started off fairly popular, but once Voyager came along it just became too much for the audience I think. Having two TV shows on at the same time was not really a good idea...at all.

 

[DarthTom]

BTW, for comparison purposes, here's how the other Trek openings did and it's adjusted for inflation.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979): $34,668,706 (opening weekend)/ $239,115,674 (cume)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982): $35,038,451 / $192,290,437
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984): $35,629,102 / $163,237,856
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986): $32,671,686 / $212,328,919
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989): $31,267,457 / $93,951,918
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991): $30,976,050 / $127,720,425
Star Trek: Generations (1994): $39,707,107 / $129,980,545
Star Trek: First Contact (1996): $49,896,339 / $149,493,266
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998): $33,761,058 / $107,451,468
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002): $22,918,195 / $53,387,173

 

[Phily B]

I don't think adjusting it for inflation like that works does it? Ticket prices haven't gone up by $10/£5 have they?

 

[Borgminister]

BTW, for comparison purposes, here's how the other Trek openings did and it's adjusted for inflation.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979): $34,668,706 (opening weekend)/ $239,115,674 (cume)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982): $35,038,451 / $192,290,437
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984): $35,629,102 / $163,237,856
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986): $32,671,686 / $212,328,919
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989): $31,267,457 / $93,951,918
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991): $30,976,050 / $127,720,425
Star Trek: Generations (1994): $39,707,107 / $129,980,545
Star Trek: First Contact (1996): $49,896,339 / $149,493,266
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998): $33,761,058 / $107,451,468
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002): $22,918,195 / $53,387,173

The interesting thing about these "adjusted for inflation" figures would be to also contrast them with the cost of making the movie similarly adjusted for inflation.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'm sure he's say, "I'm sure they're all very pleased."

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Alternatively, it would be fun to read the thread and discover that Berman is today's featured mugshot at The Smoking Gun, having been arrested at 2:00 AM drunkenly wandering down the middle of Sepulveda in his underwear or pounding on Abrams front door screaming unintelligible but probably ethnically offensive obscenities before passing out.

You know I actually had a dream last night where I ran into JJ on the train and told him to hide because a group of angry Trekkies was coming to lynch him, pitchfork and all?

 

[Shatmandu]

Rick doesn't mind.

He's on his yacht, being serviced by women of all colors on top of a pile of money.

Joe, ahoyed

 

[indranee]

yeah, he doesn't mind. I'm sure he's very pleased anyway.

 

[Trekker4747]

yeah, he doesn't mind. I'm sure he's very pleased anyway.

Beatya to it.