Star Trek 4 Hits A Snag

[STEPhon IT]

Does anyone know what the actual dollar figure amount is on Pine's contract with Paramount?

He went from making 1.5-2M on STID to 6M on Beyond. That's a big jump.

I like Pine as an actor, but I don't think he's worth a huge dollar amount. People don't come to the theater to see him. Same with Hemsworth. Outside of franchise work nothing these guys are in performs all that well financially.

You may not think so, but Paramount thought so before Beyond tanked, and they should pay him. He's a good actor and as far I know he doesn't create drama for the studio or on sets--they -- the Studio-- should honor what they promised him. It's tough being an actor and there no way of knowing when Pine's career may end. He should get paid as much as he can get in this hot today done tomorrow business.

 

[johnjm22]

You may not think so, but Paramount thought so before Beyond tanked, and they should pay him. He's a good actor and as far I know he doesn't create drama for the studio or on sets--they -- the Studio-- should honor what they promised him. It's tough being an actor and there no way of knowing when Pine's career may end. He should get paid as much as he can get in this hot today done tomorrow business.

He should try and get as much as he can. I agree. Just like an athlete should get as much as he can in the prime of his career, but that doesn't mean I think he's worth it.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Paramount figured the same.. so we got Beyond

And I'm extremely happy we did. I love Beyond (it's not perfect, no, though, frankly, no Star Trek movie has ever come anywhere near being truly great). More importantly, though, every leaked detail I've ever heard about this originally conceived Orci project sounded like a terrible fanfiction story come to life, focused almost entirely on things that no casual fan gives a damn about (and even many more devoted fans wouldn't care about). If it had been made, it would've been a MUCH bigger financial bomb than Beyond was.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Does anyone know what the actual dollar figure amount is on Pine's contract with Paramount?

He went from making 1.5-2M on STID to 6M on Beyond. That's a big jump.

I like Pine as an actor, but I don't think he's worth a huge dollar amount. People don't come to the theater to see him. Same with Hemsworth. Outside of franchise work nothing these guys are in performs all that well financially.

Something like 12 or 16 million IIRC. It's one of those contracts that has big increases every movie, leading to the kind of scenario where Robert Downey Jr makes a bonkers $48 million for an Avengers movie.

 

[Khan 2.0]

Does anyone know what the actual dollar figure amount is on Pine's contract with Paramount?

He went from making 1.5-2M on STID to 6M on Beyond. That's a big jump..

guess they were pleased with the almost 100m box office increase of STID ?

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

We need a crazy Starfleet admiral to run Paramount

 

[Khan 2.0]

kevin smith weighs in
https://trekmovie.com/2018/08/24/jo...-4-kevin-smith-weighs-in-on-the-chris-crisis/

 

[Saul]

Don't recast Kirk. Kirk is an admiral now. Make Scotty the Captain. I see Simon Pegg in more movies than I do Pine.

 

[Smellmet]

kevin smith weighs in
https://trekmovie.com/2018/08/24/jo...-4-kevin-smith-weighs-in-on-the-chris-crisis/

He's saying what a lot of people on here are isn't he?

 

[Rahul]

Isn't there a variety of different ways they could structure a renegotiated deal? They could set it up so he would actually get more than the original deal if the movie performs well at the box office.

I'm not sure if this violates union rules, but I would think they could offer him a percentage of revenue or a bonus if the box proceeds reach a certain amount.

Say for example his original fee is 8M. Paramount could offer him 4M and put a stipulation in the deal that if the box office surpasses 450M+ he'll get a bonus of 5M bringing his total payout to 9M.

I would think they'd be able to come to some sort of agreement.

Yeah, I guess something like that is going to be the solution. Like, I believe neither side is willing to blow off the movie for that - Paramount is in desperate need of successfull blockbuster franchises, and Pine has so much to gain from being not only in Wonder Woman, but continue to be the star of another franchise as well - it would allow him to choose his projects in the future, and maybe even get his pet projects financed simply by him being attached to it.

The main problem is: No one has any clue on how successfull a ST4 is going to be. It could be Paramounts "Solo", it could be their triumphant return. Nobody knows, so it's basically a show-down where both sides are heavily gambling.

Add to that that Paramount clearly is downgrading the franchise, from being their biggest, most expensive one to a mid-level sized blockbuster, and they simply have less money (and percentages) free to negotiate. They probably have problems financing the film anyway - nobody thinks it's going to flop, but nobody has ANY clue on how successfull it actually is going to be. And if markets hate one thing, then it's uncertainty. And "uncertainty" is basically the future of the Kelvin-Trek franchise brought down to one word.

 

[johnjm22]

The main problem is: No one has any clue on how successfull a ST4 is going to be. It could be Paramounts "Solo", it could be their triumphant return. Nobody knows, so it's basically a show-down where both sides are heavily gambling.

Add to that that Paramount clearly is downgrading the franchise, from being their biggest, most expensive one to a mid-level sized blockbuster, and they simply have less money (and percentages) free to negotiate. They probably have problems financing the film anyway - nobody thinks it's going to flop, but nobody has ANY clue on how successfull it actually is going to be. And if markets hate one thing, then it's uncertainty. And "uncertainty" is basically the future of the Kelvin-Trek franchise brought down to one word.

I think we have a pretty good idea of how successful ST4 will be: 300M-500M range. It's just a matter of keeping the production and marketing costs low enough to make that level of box office revenue profitable.

If they can make this film on a 120M production budget it's going to be profitable or at worst break even. So that's the real challenge.

You can see they're trying to save money in every aspect. Use an old script. Hire an unknown director. Renegotiate the deals of the most expensive actors.

They tried to make ST a blockbuster action franchise like a comic book film. It didn't work. Now we're going back to the 1980's ST production formula: smaller stories on a tight budget. I for one am happy about it.

And contract disputes in Star Trek are nothing new. ST5 directed by Chris Pine!

 

[Rahul]

I think we have a pretty good idea of how successful ST4 will be: 300M-500M range.

I think that's overly optimistic. That's seeing the performance of "Beyond" as a fluke, not as the natural progression of the franchise.

IMO if I had to guess, it's more the latter one: The domestic box office from ST09 to Into Darkness to Beyond was constantly in decline. The international box office of every franchise movie had an extremely sharp climb between 2009 and 2013, but Into Darkness improved it's international box office compared to ST09 only below average, for Beyond it even sunk.

The franchise is in a pretty bad position right now: The last movie people actually remember came more than a decade ago. It's a franchise of an older era, pre-rise of cinematic universes, the Avengers and pretty much the modern filmscape. If they're unlucky, nobody but the most ardent Trek supporters show up, and the film is a massive bomb. If they're lucky, people in the meantime actually got more excited about Trek again, and are pouring to see a familiar franchise return in an exciting way.

It could literally earn anything, from 100M to 600M. The problem is it's absolutely unpredictable where in this range the movie will land. Normally someone expects a movie to earn around in the middle of the expected range. For ST4, all bets are off the rails, it cold land literally anywhere on this spectrum, and everyone's guess is as good as yours or mine.

 

[johnjm22]

I think that's overly optimistic. That's seeing the performance of "Beyond" as a fluke, not as the natural progression of the franchise.

IMO if I had to guess, it's more the latter one: The domestic box office from ST09 to Into Darkness to Beyond was constantly in decline. The international box office of every franchise movie had an extremely sharp climb between 2009 and 2013, and Into Darkness improved it's international box office compared to ST09 beyond average, for Beyond it even sunk.

The franchise is in a pretty bad position right now: The last movie people actually saw came more than a decade ago. It's a franchise of an older era, pre-rise of cinematic universes, the Avengers and pretty much the modern filmscape. If they're unlucky, nobody but the most ardent Trek supporters show up, and the film is a massive bomb. If they're lucky, people in the meantime actually got more excited about Trek again, and are pouring to see a familiar franchise return in an exciting way.

It could literally earn anything, from 100M to 600M. The problem is it's absolutely unpredictable where in this range the movie will land. Normally someone expects a movie to earn around in the middle of the expected range. For ST4, all bets are off the rails, it cold land literally anywhere on this spectrum.

I don't know. STB had very little buzz, bad marketing and untimely release date yet still did 343M. They would have to massively botch the whole process for ST4 to do less than 200M.

In my view Paramount needs to do 4 things:
-Bring back the whole cast.
-Have a competent (average at least) marketing campaign.
-Get decent reviews (A female director will help with this IMO)
-Keep the production budget low.

If those 4 things happen the film is most likely going to be profitable. Of course there's no guarantee. But from a business perspective you operate on probables when you're investing money.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Unfortunately, based on who's running Star Trek-- it's making it more of a niche. The audience is not stupid, they know when they're taken for a ride. Abandon the regurgitation of themes done before like time travel in the 4th film bc TOS did it 1st, and try to develop a new, utopian idea. My worst fear is the studio gets the 4th film and decides to release it in January or September making it clear they don't see Trek can compete with the big dawgs anymore.

 

[jaime]

Unfortunately, based on who's running Star Trek-- it's making it more of a niche. The audience is not stupid, they know when they're taken for a ride. Abandon the regurgitation of themes done before like time travel in the 4th film bc TOS did it 1st, and try to develop a new, utopian idea. My worst fear is the studio gets the 4th film and decides to release it in January or September making it clear they don't see Trek can compete with the big dawgs anymore.

January is fine I think tbh. I have half a memory of it always being the 27th. Though that was very probably video releases (they didn’t like Xmas money...sort of like how So y didn’t put out the ghostbusters reboot in time for Halloween here. Though that may have been a blessing.)

 

[STEPhon IT]

January is fine I think tbh. I have half a memory of it always being the 27th. Though that was very probably video releases (they didn’t like Xmas money...sort of like how So y didn’t put out the ghostbusters reboot in time for Halloween here. Though that may have been a blessing.)

NOoooo! Jaime, don't ever think that or accept that. Star Trek deserves more including its releases.

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call should've been a direct to video release just in time for Halloween IMO. I honestly didn't know who that movie was for?

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Don't recast Kirk. Kirk is an admiral now. Make Scotty the Captain. I see Simon Pegg in more movies than I do Pine.

How about we don't decide who's captain on the basis of which actor is 'most popular'? The story still needs to make sense (and Pegg's Scotty is no captain).

 

[gottacook]

In my view Paramount needs to do 4 things:
-Bring back the whole cast.
-Have a competent (average at least) marketing campaign.
-Get decent reviews (A female director will help with this IMO)
-Keep the production budget low.

A great script, assuming there's anyone who can write a great Star Trek script at this point, is the key to all of these. To address each point in turn:
-Perhaps Pine walked away from fee negotiations in part because he sees that the current script sucks? Conversely, actors have been known to give up a big payday to appear in films with great scripts.
-A great script will make strong marketing a lot easier. Likewise, a weak or diffuse script makes it harder.
-Regardless of who the director is, or what sex the director is, a strong script will lead to strong reviews.
-The script is what ultimately determines the production costs of any movie. And a great script will be inventive with regard to cost savings (just as the original Star Trek creators were inventive enough to come up with the transporter so they didn't have to go to the expense of showing their starship landing and taking off all the time).

 

[jaime]

NOoooo! Jaime, don't ever think that or accept that. Star Trek deserves more including its releases.

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call should've been a direct to video release just in time for Halloween IMO. I honestly didn't know who that movie was for?

I think January releases are fine depending who you aim at and why. Date movies post New Years? Teens before they return to school with Xmas gift money in their pockets? Back to school crowd looking for weekend distraction? Jaded adults on New Years resolutions to go out more, watch more with the kids or just wanting to recapture their youth in the shadow of another passing year?
Sounds good for a nostalgia movie with an uplifting and family appeal.

 

[Smellmet]

I think it needs to have a bit of a 'deeper' storyline compared to the others to distinguish it and get it a decent reputation. I want to see something a little more creative this time, the franchise deserves it, and I think the reduced budget will likely force that kind of thinking.

Don't get me wrong I'd love there to be 200 million dollars available but we are where we are. Putting out an engaging film with limited resources is a hallmark of the series when you think about it.