Should ViacomCBS give up on a fourth movie and stick with Star Trek Television?

[The Overlord]

It's been over 5 years since the last Star Trek movie was released and it didn't do great at the box office. Since then, there have been several attempts to launch a fourth Star Trek Kelvin movie, but they all just kinda flamed out.

There has been a lot of Star Trek since Beyond was released, but it has all been in Television. Should ViacomCBS give up on a fourth movie and stick with Star Trek Television or try to produce a new movie in addition to the streaming shows?

Can Star Trek compete with the Disney-Marvel-Star Wars beast in the box office or should it stick to the streaming shows?

 

[fireproof78]

New movie.

 

[FederationHistorian]

It depends on the script and who is willing to work. I’ve seen quite a few ideas on what the next movie could be/should be about, so I don’t think they should give up. And there is a reason to continue, with Jaylah, Dr. Carol Wallace & Darwin taking the place of Chekov (RIP Anton) in the main cast, which would refresh the Kelvin series and a cast that’s closer to gender parity. It would just need an appearance from Nurse Christine Chapel & Yeoman Janice Rand for equal parity. But its obviously dependent on who is and is not available.

At the same time, its not like Beyond was a bad send off for the Kelvin cast; the film was quite good. And the Star Trek: The Beginning script is lying around waiting to be made.

I think it’s a mistake for Star Trek to try and compete with Disney-Marvel-Star Wars. Yes, Star Trek should be a money generator for ViacomCBS, but I’m not sure how competition would be to the benefit of Star Trek itself. Does the James Bond franchise try to compete with Disney-Marvel-Star Wars, or does it do its own thing and gets treated as a major phenomenon in pop culture every few years a film is released as a result?

Leave the competition at the box office to be between Marvel, DC, Transformers, and the Fast and the Furious films.

 

[F. King Daniel]

If it's good and different from the weekly stuff, people will come and see it. So yes, more movies.

 

[shapeshifter]

No. At least not yet.

I'd like the movie and TV company to work in tandem. Doesn't Viacom = CBS+Paramount?

How about, TV shows setting up cliffhangers concluding in stand alone style movies? The movie could be totally self contained, no needing to see the shows required to enjoy it but if you did see them you get extra entertainment value.

Sounds complicated but I think it's a direction streaming channels owned by TV and Movie company's should be able to easily do.

TLDR I'll just say it... Like Disney/Marvel is doing. They seem to be successfully doing both so why not duplicate the model?

 

[fireproof78]

They seem to be successfully doing both so why not duplicate the model?

Because Disney tolerates losses better. Few companies would tolerate the ups and downs and keep to the plan.

 

[BillJ]

Can Star Trek compete with the Disney-Marvel-Star Wars beast in the box office or should it stick to the streaming shows?

I don't think they have to compete, they just need to set the budget and ticket sales expectations accordingly. Star Trek isn't going to be a billion dollar a film franchise and Viacom needs to recognize that.

 

[Relayer1]

The last Trek movie I liked was Undiscovered Country.

Stick to TV.

 

[Atrili]

I don't mind the Kelvin timeline films, but I think setting the new TV shows in the prime timeline probably killed any chance of us seeing any more of them. It's kind weird to explain to a new Trek fan how the Spock you saw in the movie is different from the one you're watching in Strange New Worlds.

 

[Dukhat]

I don't mind the Kelvin timeline films, but I think setting the new TV shows in the prime timeline probably killed any chance of us seeing any more of them. It's kind weird to explain to a new Trek fan how the Spock you saw in the movie is different from the one you're watching in Strange New Worlds.

Precisely.

Here's the thing: When DSC was first being produced, CBS wanted to make it very clear that the show did NOT take place in the Kelvin timeline, precisely because they didn't want their viewers confused (since at the time CBS and Paramount were separate companies, and CBS didn't want to look like they were basically promoting something that wasn't their product.) That's why CBS proclaimed that DSC takes place in the 'prime' timeline (not because of any feeling on their part that DSC needed to be consistent with TOS.) Now that the companies have merged again, it doesn't really matter if future films take place in the KT or not. I for one would be fine with another KT movie, if only because the aesthetics of those films seem to evoke TOS far more than DSC did. But conversely, if Paramount is going to make a big-budget Trek film, there's really no need for it to be another KT movie, since they'd probably want to promote the Trek series currently in production rather than an alternate universe last seen 6 years ago, and one that really doesn't need further elaboration. We can just envision the further adventures of the Abramsprise-A in our minds.

 

[valkyrie013]

No, a movie should be made, mainly for One Simple Reason.. NEW PEOPLE..
As we've seen the past few months, there taking all the past Star Trek episodes and movies, and yanking them from the rest of the streamers, (Netflix, prime, etc.) and having them on just the lame Paramount +. This is a BAD IDEA.
Paramount + is still a niche, although, it does have 47 million world wide.. not even close to Netflix.
Keeping the New stuff on P+ is fine, but you limit new people seeing the old stuff, then transition to the new stuff.

Anyways, Movies. ST 09 done what it was supose to do, it got buts in seats, and new fans to watch the rest. That is what the new movie has to do. Have a Maximum pull of people, not just already established Trek fans. So you have to cast a wide net.
Can a new Kelvin do it? maybe, but it has been 6 years, and 12 years since the first movie.. It may be out of juice.
Maybe a new ship, new crew, but I doubt the studio would do it that way, they want a gurantee, thats why they revamped Kirk and Spock.

 

[The Overlord]

I don't think they have to compete, they just need to set the budget and ticket sales expectations accordingly. Star Trek isn't going to be a billion dollar a film franchise and Viacom needs to recognize that.

No, but if it gets creamed at the box office, Paramount will conclude it will not be worth the effort. The Star Trek films will either have to reduce the budgets to get a bigger return or will have to find a way to make the films more profitable because you can't maintain a film franchise based on the returns Beyond got. I liked Beyond as a film, but it was not a box office success, at best it kinda broke even.

 

[FederationHistorian]

It's kind weird to explain to a new Trek fan how the Spock you saw in the movie is different from the one you're watching in Strange New Worlds.

Discovery also acknowledged the existence of the Kelvin timeline in S3, since that’s where Yor came from.

I think new fans could understand that there are Spocks from different realities.

I liked Beyond as a film, but it was not a box office success, at best it kinda broke even.

Into Darkness left a bad taste in everyone mouth. Even my dad, who was a long-time fan of Star Trek and like the first reboot film, did not have an interest in watching Beyond after seeing Into Darkness before he passed.

 

[Dukhat]

I think new fans could understand that there are Spocks from different realities.

That's not how CBS thinks, though. They would not want the audience to have the slightest doubt in their minds which universe that Spock on the movie screen is from. And now that CBS and Paramount have remerged, I can almost guarantee that any future film will take place in the DSC universe, for that very reason.

 

[somebuddyX]

Captain Sulu TV show starring John Cho.

 

[fireproof78]

I think new fans could understand that there are Spocks from different realities.

Yup. Audiences are not that dumb. Even my mom, completely anti-science fiction, understood ST 09.

No, but if it gets creamed at the box office, Paramount will conclude it will not be worth the effort. The Star Trek films will either have to reduce the budgets to get a bigger return or will have to find a way to make the films more profitable because you can't maintain a film franchise based on the returns Beyond got. I liked Beyond as a film, but it was not a box office success, at best it kinda broke even.

Then they reduce the budget and rework it. This is even more possible now with DSC utilizing virtual wall assets and you could potentially set share just like TNG and the TOS films did. There are ways to make the franchise work on the big screen. The larger point is don't expect Marvel money. Studios are fooling themselves that Marvel's model is reproducible without a lot of planning, and willingness to tolerate downturns without giving up on the plan. Far better to create film and work with it, than try to be the next Marvel.

 

[Jayson1]

Someone needs to get on their knees and beg Tarantino do a Trek movie. Offering him anything he wants. Money, A small island, a meeting with Elvis Presley since they know where he has been living since he faked his death. Whatever it takes get him to sign on.

 

[XCV330]

I don't mind the Kelvin timeline films, but I think setting the new TV shows in the prime timeline probably killed any chance of us seeing any more of them. It's kind weird to explain to a new Trek fan how the Spock you saw in the movie is different from the one you're watching in Strange New Worlds.

They have acknowledged the Kelvin timeline, showing a Starfleet officer named Xor, so they are leaving that option open.

 

[Atrili]

They have acknowledged the Kelvin timeline, showing a Starfleet officer named Xor, so they are leaving that option open.

Sure, they put a little nugget of a door so they have some narrative groundwork laid if they want to exploit it. I just don't think they will.

As for my personal preference, I'd be open to seeing at least one more Kelvin film. I just think the time window for them to get the best return has either passed or is rapidly passing.

 

[fireproof78]

Someone needs to get on their knees and beg Tarantino do a Trek movie. Offering him anything he wants. Money, A small island, a meeting with Elvis Presley since they know where he has been living since he faked his death. Whatever it takes get him to sign on.

He's not worth it.