Some would also argue Kelvin Trek was doomed the moment JJ jumped ship to join Star Wars. Others would state that the actors became too famous in Hollywood to ensure longevity compared to the prime films' cast. I totally agree 4 years is too long a wait between films, momentum was lost and the public have probably lost interest by this point. It is really sad.
Star Trek 4 Hits A Snag
- Thread starter Doc Mugatu
- Start date
Well, if you want to theorize about the causes of the present weak outlook for any given Trek theatrical film with the present cast, irrespective of what the script might be: The portion of the audience who were longtime fans of Trek (and, separately, of the Trek movies) would have felt betrayed by the makers of Into Darkness saying "No, he's not Khan" during production, and then finding out ... he was Khan. And the portion of the audience who weren't longtime fans, yet in 2013 still bought tickets for a Kirk-and-Spock movie, didn't care one way or the other -- and many of them, even assuming they found Into Darkness entertaining, weren't enticed by the prospect 3 years later of going to see (the very vaguely advertised, and equally vaguely titled) Beyond. If Beyond had done well, the fourth film would be in post-production right now.
The actors holding out for non-reductions or increases in their fees are (presumably) taking the advice of their agents, who have convinced them that (1) this is the last Trek movie in the current series, if indeed it ever gets made; (2) even if Paramount ultimately decides to commit, the current struggles within the CBS/Viacom/Paramount combine probably will delay any such decision, likely deflating the value and profitability of the finished product; (3) even if walking away from the picture results in its collapse, it's no great loss to your career, given points 1 and 2. So may as well take the risk and ask for more money.
The actors holding out for non-reductions or increases in their fees are (presumably) taking the advice of their agents, who have convinced them that (1) this is the last Trek movie in the current series, if indeed it ever gets made; (2) even if Paramount ultimately decides to commit, the current struggles within the CBS/Viacom/Paramount combine probably will delay any such decision, likely deflating the value and profitability of the finished product; (3) even if walking away from the picture results in its collapse, it's no great loss to your career, given points 1 and 2. So may as well take the risk and ask for more money.
They could've done so much more with it. They just let it flap in the wind like Admiral Akbar's chins.
I think the Kelvin universe was doomed when the folks involved said they were big Star Trek fans when in actuality they were bigger fans of JJ Abrams. They don't need to care about Star Trek so long as they make a movie for 'movie fans' and throw in a lot of stuff that JJ himself loves to see.
Well JJ is the Incarnate of Evil, so I agree. Look how he screwed up Lost, Person of Interest, Westworld, Mission Impossible, Alias, Felicity, Super 8, Cloverfield, Star Wars:The Force Awakens, Fringe....the man is a menace.
Nothing from Midnight's Edge is accurate beyond the guy being unhinged.
First off great Caddyshack reference with the menace line
Think you're being sarcastic, but he didn't screw up TFA - just copied/reinterpreted the Org Star Wars movie, IMO
Not even putting that oh him, Lucas n family have so many restrictions on what SW can do or more importantly what it can't it's hard to judge
The problem I have with JJ is he's the Dave Grohl of Hollywood. He has his finger in everybody's sandbox and the net result is a sort of dull homogeneity of warmed over Lucas/Spielberg tropes, shaky-cam and lens-flare. This goes for the entire Bad Robot brand in general, hence Alex Kurtzman's barnacle-like influence on Trek's TV fate.
As bad as the homogeneity was during the Berman era, at least Rick Berman was only in Star Trek and not also Star Wars, etc...
But now would be a good time to make a clean break and bring in a completely new vision.
For instance, I don't know very much about the pending Matt Reeves Batman movie, but I am really looking forward to what Matt Reeves might do with the material separate from Zack Snyder or Christopher Nolan's influence because...Matt Reeves is (as per the Apes films) a rising star. He's damn good and he deserves to be invited into that sandbox.
That is what Trek needs. Someone new who has paid his (or her) dues and has a vision that is completely distinct from what has come before in any and all respects.
let's not forget CBS' role in this affair. the battle between the IPs owners allegedly frustrated abrams away from star trek and into star wars' arms.
You think?!?
No, there was no 'battle' - Abrams wanted full control of merchandising going forward; AND want to end any non-Kelvin era merchandising for the run of his three picture deal. CBS (still making tons of money from various Star Trek merchandise) said, "Sorry, no."
And nothing 'drove' him into Disney/Star Wars arms. He's admitted he's a bigger Star Wars than Star Trek fan, so yeah, when offered to direct the first new Star Wars film since the Prequels; or directing Star Trek for a third time; I don't doubt he decided to helm Star Wars.
And we can now see just how his and Disney's fingers have totally screwed up the Star Wars Product lines.
Big-Box stores are practically giving away what few action figures they have, and don't stock anywhere near the amounts that they use to just a few years ago.
It's probably a good thing CBS didn't let him screw around with original Trek licensing.
New TOS stuff would be completely nonresistant anywhere by now and we'd probably get blamed for not buying it.
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whatever word you want to use to describe it - "battle" being in the title of the article - there was conflict that contributed to abrams leaving the franchise. my previous point was that both CBS and paramount had a hand in screwing up the kelvin timeline's box office potential and that assertion is backed up by the article.
i think your interpretation reflects anti-abrams bias. which is cool. personally, i never understood the animus towards the guy who revived the franchise, but that's a conversation for a different thread.
And we can now see just how his and Disney's fingers have totally screwed up the Star Wars Product lines.
Big-Box stores are practically giving away what few action figures they have, and don't stock anywhere near the amounts that they use to just a few years ago.
It's probably a good thing CBS didn't let him screw around with original Trek licensing.
New TOS stuff would be completely nonresistant anywhere by now and we'd probably get blamed for not buying it.
DSC having similar issues with their merch, McFarlane toys backing out with no mkt for them
But Abrams DIDN'T LEAVE the franchise. He decided not to direct ST: Beyond. His production company "Bad Robot" still produced the third film for paramount as part of the 3 picture deal they made.
And JJ Abrams is still in the process of producing Star Trek 14 (JJ Verse 4):
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-...irector-beyond-sequel-sj-carter-a8324961.html
fine. he left his directorial role for a producing only role in the franchise. better?
either way, the point still stands: CBS and paramount's rift prevented bad robot from creating that "multi-platform film franchise" they were after. objectively, that wasn't good for star trek. now we have this weirdly segregated franchise instead of a cinematic universe - something that every studio wants and star trek is a natural fit for.
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