Why no DS9, Voy, or even Enterprise movie.

[Terok Nor]

I agree TNG is the most likely spin off to receive a reboot. Surely Picard, Data, Worf, Geordi and the rest of the crew are well enough known to warrant a re-visit at some point. TNG was a big success in the 90's. I'm not sure how I'd feel about it. I still don't see the new Trek crew as the "real" Kirk, Spock, etc. Nothing against them or anything.

 

[BillJ]

I agree TNG is the most likely spin off to receive a reboot. Surely Picard, Data, Worf, Geordi and the rest of the crew are well enough known to warrant a re-visit at some point. TNG was a big success in the 90's.

Picard and Data are. I doubt most people remember the rest of the D crew.

 

[Terok Nor]

I agree TNG is the most likely spin off to receive a reboot. Surely Picard, Data, Worf, Geordi and the rest of the crew are well enough known to warrant a re-visit at some point. TNG was a big success in the 90's.

Picard and Data are. I doubt most people remember the rest of the D crew.

Geordi, Worf and maybe Troi are pretty well remembered. Geordi for the visor, Worf for being a Starfleet Klingon and Troi for something or other Wesley Crusher gets a lot of unfavourable references to this day.

 

[The Wormhole]

I agree TNG is the most likely spin off to receive a reboot. Surely Picard, Data, Worf, Geordi and the rest of the crew are well enough known to warrant a re-visit at some point. TNG was a big success in the 90's.

Picard and Data are. I doubt most people remember the rest of the D crew.

A lot of people know Geordi, even if they do think of him as "the Reading Rainbow guy with the funny thing over his eyes."

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I'm an active part (whatever that means, granted) of several pretty-different fandoms, and I can confirm that Geordi is fairly well-known to this day, as is Worf, yeah.

DS9's my favorite show but I must admit that next to ENT it is the least-known overall. Voyager airing on UPN nationwide here in the US helped its cause, even if the ratings were actually a bit lower. Also, Seven of Nine. >_>

 

[Ovation]

Actually, I'd wager only Kirk and Spock are recognized in any significant way among the general public. Fans of anything (a rock band, a writer, a TV show, a sci-fi franchise--possible exception of Star Wars, a sport, etc.) usually strongly overestimate the general public's knowledge of their particular object of attention. If the goal of the filmmakers is to maximize "butts on the seats" ahead of all other considerations (something that is frequently the case, but not always so), then Kirk and Spock will be at the centre of any iteration of Trek for the foreseeable future (whether Abramsverse or some other incarnation). None of the other series ever generated characters that surpass, or even equal, Kirk and Spock in recognition factor. At present, that pretty much nixes any spin-off movies/revivals.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I don't know. I agree with the gist of what you're saying, but I've been around a lot of people who don't know jack about Trek, but still recognize Kirk, Spock, "beam me up", "Patrick Stewart", "the robot", "the robot boobs", and "the Klingon." It's not much to go on, but it's something.

 

[Franklin]

Actually, I'd wager only Kirk and Spock are recognized in any significant way among the general public. Fans of anything (a rock band, a writer, a TV show, a sci-fi franchise--possible exception of Star Wars, a sport, etc.) usually strongly overestimate the general public's knowledge of their particular object of attention. If the goal of the filmmakers is to maximize "butts on the seats" ahead of all other considerations (something that is frequently the case, but not always so), then Kirk and Spock will be at the centre of any iteration of Trek for the foreseeable future (whether Abramsverse or some other incarnation). None of the other series ever generated characters that surpass, or even equal, Kirk and Spock in recognition factor. At present, that pretty much nixes any spin-off movies/revivals.

Yep. They are also far less likely to "wear out." Not only was there a gap in their lives from before we saw them on the Enterprise (which Abrams filled), except for TMP, there is a huge gap from when we see Kirk in "Turnabout Intruder" and TWOK. To be blunt, even if Abrams didn't reboot, the most fertile area of the prime timeline in which to cultivate stories would be that gap in the lives of Kirk and Spock.

 

[BillJ]

Yep. They are also far less likely to "wear out." Not only was there a gap in their lives from before we saw them on the Enterprise (which Abrams filled), except for TMP, there is a huge gap from when we see Kirk in "Turnabout Intruder" and TWOK. To be blunt, even if Abrams didn't reboot, the most fertile area of the prime timeline in which to cultivate stories would be that gap in the lives of Kirk and Spock.

I think the big problem is it's tough to put the characters in danger because we already know how their lives turn out.

Which is why I believe a reboot was the right way to go.

 

[Franklin]

Yep. They are also far less likely to "wear out." Not only was there a gap in their lives from before we saw them on the Enterprise (which Abrams filled), except for TMP, there is a huge gap from when we see Kirk in "Turnabout Intruder" and TWOK. To be blunt, even if Abrams didn't reboot, the most fertile area of the prime timeline in which to cultivate stories would be that gap in the lives of Kirk and Spock.

I think the big problem is it's tough to put the characters in danger because we already know how their lives turn out.

Which is why I believe a reboot was the right way to go.

Oh c'mon now, we all enjoyed the TOS episodes fine while we worried and fretted about how Kirk would get out of the week's dire situation despite knowing everything had to turn out OK in the end because Kirk had to be back on the next week.

 

[Eric Cheung]

The OP's question isn't whether or not the other three series could get a movie now; it's about why the shows didn't get movies when their respective shows ended.

I think it was because there was just so much Trek on at the same time. There was a TNG movie series running concurrently with DS9, VOY, and ENT, so unless there was a crossover film, the TNG film series would have to run its course before the other shows got a shot. And it didn't until ENT was deep into its run. By that point, the last film was Nemesis, which didn't perform well, calling into question the viability of, at least Berman-run, Trek on film. That said, there was that plan for the Erik Jendresen Romulan War trilogy, which would have been awesome. But I think that was probably considered too close to ENT, a series that was cancelled before its time, to be worth the risk.

Regarding reboots, I think the only way a reboot of the other shows would work is if it's in a third universe. The massive changes in the JJ universe rippling to a century later would seem too great for the same combination of people to have even been born, let alone for those people to run into the same situations and postings. But I know that wouldn't really be a factor if they wanted to do it badly enough.

 

[Squiggy]

The reason why DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise didn't get a movie is because viewers gave zero fucks about the shows when it ended.

Getting a studio to spend 50 million on a movie doesn't happen when you're pulling down at 4 share.

There's no artistic reason. There's no deeper meaning.

Zero fucks.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Some things are good enough "as is". The series mentioned in the OP are examples of that fact.

 

[JoeZhang]

Now that Star Trek has had a reboot, I think it is a fair question to ask why the other three series did not get a shot at a movie.

Because "it will be the adventures of a young Kirk and Spock!" sold itself.

"It will be the adventure of that dude who looked a bit like George Bush waiting for a prostate exam, the one with the dude who steered the ship who was called em.. mayflower? Maypole? you know that one where they em.. I forget" doesn't even sell itself to people here.

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

According to Brent Spiner, the original plan for after Nemesis was a "Justice League of Trek" movie which would have used time travel to unite characters from all the TV series' (or the ones they could afford/would be willing) against a similar team-up of villains.

I remember that. I thought it was just a rumor.

After that, the plan was for a Romulan War ENT-era movie, but one without Archer or the Enterprise (who are at Risa and miss the entire thing, which says everything about TPTB's opinion of an ENT movie at that time) and instead focusing on the grandfather of James T. Kirk, a guy called Tiberius Chase. More info here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34635

While I'd love to hop to a parallel universe or two and buy the DVDs, I think we got the sweeter deal with the TOS reboot.

I still would like to read the full script of that unmade movie...

 

[eyeresist]

I think it was because there was just so much Trek on at the same time. There was a TNG movie series running concurrently with DS9, VOY, and ENT, so unless there was a crossover film, the TNG film series would have to run its course before the other shows got a shot. And it didn't until ENT was deep into its run. By that point, the last film was Nemesis, which didn't perform well, calling into question the viability of, at least Berman-run, Trek on film.

I don't exactly agree with this, but it does remind me that INS was the real Trek-killer (IMO). So much audience good-will built up with FC, and they just pissed it all away. (Could probably make the same argument for VOY.)

The way they should have looked at it is that the movies are advertisements for the TV series, and vice versa. (The same way a band's live shows advertise the records, and the other way around.) So instead of Pillar getting nostalgic for the least cinematic aspects of TNG, he should have focused on (a) blowing the audience away, and (b) selling the new TV characters to the movie audience as interesting potential leads.

The TV series did try to reference stuff from the movies and TNG, but the relationship was not reciprocal. If it had been, perhaps we might eventually have seen movies based on other series.


I just had an idea for an alternate TNG movie, in which our heroes have to shepherd a convoy of refugee spaceships through hostile territory. Captain of the convoy is one Kira Nerys.

 

[BillJ]

The TV series did try to reference stuff from the movies and TNG, but the relationship was not reciprocal. If it had been, perhaps we might eventually have seen movies based on other series.

The TNG films referenced both Voyager and Deep Space Nine numerous times. Even Enterprise got a nod with the USS Archer.

 

[eyeresist]

The TV series did try to reference stuff from the movies and TNG, but the relationship was not reciprocal. If it had been, perhaps we might eventually have seen movies based on other series.

The TNG films referenced both Voyager and Deep Space Nine numerous times. Even Enterprise got a nod with the USS Archer.

Tiny continuity references that only fans would get is not really what I meant.

 

[BillJ]

The TV series did try to reference stuff from the movies and TNG, but the relationship was not reciprocal. If it had been, perhaps we might eventually have seen movies based on other series.

The TNG films referenced both Voyager and Deep Space Nine numerous times. Even Enterprise got a nod with the USS Archer.

Tiny continuity references that only fans would get is not really what I meant.

But that was all the TV series did. Heck, about the only reference to the films I can remember both came from DS9, the loss of the Enterprise and the S'ona as makers of Ketracel White.

EDIT: Plus, Enterprise referenced the Briar Patch and used the Remans in season four.

 

[eyeresist]

TV references to the movies, of the top of my head:

DS9 brought on Worf as a regular character.

VOY brought back the Borg Queen as a protagonist. (There might be other examples, but I'm not familiar with the show.)

ENT had an appearance from Zefram Cochrane in the pilot, showed a version of the first Earth encounter with Vulcans in "Mirror, Darkly" (using footage from FC), and followed up the destruction of the Borg sphere in FC with the episode "Regeneration".