The Star Trek film franchise “feels like it’s cursed.” Chris Pine, who’s best known for his role as James T. Kirk in the new Star Trek movies, made the comment in a new interview with Esquire regarding his acting career, which naturally included the topic of Star Trek but, perhaps, not in the positive light that fans might have expected. Pine seems to think that modern Star Trek movies are taking much too long to get made, and while he’s set to star in a fourth one following 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, he still has no idea what it’s going to be about despite the February 2022 announcement. Other frustrations that the actor brought up is how there’s a pressure for Star Trek films to hit Marvel numbers.
From an Esquire article:
Pine’s first Star Trek came out a year after the first Iron Man; Beyond was released in 2016, after Marvel’s interlocking mega-franchises had moved the goalposts for what constitutes a hit. Beyond’s gross—nearly $344 million globally—was good money, but not Avengers good. “I’m not sure Star Trek was ever built to do that kind of business,” Pine says. “I always thought, Why aren’t we just appealing to this really rabid fan group and making the movie for a good price and going on our merry way, instead of trying to compete with the Marvels of the world?” He’d like to span more years as Kirk but wouldn’t be surprised if Beyond was the end of it. “After the last one came out and didn’t do the $1 billion that everybody wanted it to do, and then Anton”—Yelchin, who played Chekov—“passed away, I don’t know, it just seemed . . .” He pauses, looks out the window at the view Star Trek bought.
He doesn’t finish the thought but a few minutes later suggests that the franchise “feels like it’s cursed”—it shouldn’t be this hard to figure out how to do another Star Trek movie, yet it’s taken six years. Pine and crew’s return to the screen was announced in February 2022; when I speak to producer J. J. Abrams by phone, the search for a director is ongoing. Abrams is elliptical about the film, even by J. J. Abrams standards. “I will say it’s the first time [since the original reboot] that we have a story that feels as compelling as the first one.”
Even this is news to Pine. “I don’t know anything,” he says. Which is apparently pretty standard: “In Star Trek land, the actors are usually the last people to find out anything. I know costume designers that have read scripts before the actors.” Is it weird, I ask, to be the captain and know so little about what you’re signing on to?
“I would say it’s frustrating,” Pine says. “It doesn’t really foster the greatest sense of partnership, but it’s how it’s always been. I love the character. I love the people. I love the franchise. But to try to change the system in which things are created—I just can’t do it. I don’t have the energy.”
Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →As long as Alex Kurtzman and JJ Abrams have anything to do with them, they will be cursed. JJ Abrams and Alex Kurtzman wanted to make Star Trek less cerebral and more action oriented in an effort to appeal to a larger audience. The problem is that Star Trek has never been an action franchise in a traditional sense. In this day and age of Marvel movies and budgets in the 200 million dollar range, flashy effects with a Star Trek skin won't get the job done. It drives away long time fans who recognize it for the soulless trash that it is and it doesn't set it self apart from your average Marvel movie either.
There is some hope out of the showrunner on Season 3 of Picard. He's a bit of a super fan and worked on Enterprise. That being said, there are some things he's fallen short on so far but Picard Season 3 is worlds ahead of what we've had lately. Strange New Worlds is good, although it carries some Discovery baggage with it given its a spin off of Discovery.
I could go on about continuity errors but the fact is, Enterprise had them too. Voyager at its worst was lore breaking as well. Strange New Worlds at its best is very much in the vein of classic Trek while Discovery, Picard Seasons 1 & 2 are all Nu-Trek to the core. Lower Decks is a mixed bag. On one hand, it's too comedic to fit into the larger Star Trek canon, but at the same time its by far the most respectful of the source material. This remains true even when the show is taking shots at it for comedic effect.
Who hasn't realized that Star Trek is cursed?
As far as the movies go, the first was fine as a space adventure movie but it wasn't Star Trek. Every move after it just got worse and less entertaining. None of these people have a clue what Star Trek is supposed to be about so none of it is going to be good.
Well, the creator of Picard S3 seems to get it. Maybe he should be put in charge of a movie, but I don't think a movie is necessary at all.
Sort of. Season 3 isn't a return to form or anything. Strange New Worlds is closer to Star Trek than Picard Season 3 is. Season 3 has so far been good, but it's not quite Star Trek either. It falls into that realm of stuff Gene Roddenberry wouldn't have liked but was good anyway. Star Trek II was like that and plenty of the TV show episodes fall into that category as well.
I liked the 1st movie because it gave a fresh start that didn't feel like a slap in the face. My only complaints were the Abrams lens flare crap, and the overused evil Nero grimace (I saw some outtakes with Bana where he was even having a hard time keeping the face because of how ridiculous it got). I wouldn't have minded the 2nd movie if they'd named Cumberbatch's character anything but Khan. I actually enjoy that one except for that. The third, while Pegg and co. tried to make an episodic thing, had way too much action for my tastes. It felt like one of those 80-90s films that are basically one big action-stunt sequence that they tried to paste together with a story. There are parts that I like but I cringe during most of it.
Make more Lower Decks.
I'm not a huge Trek fan. I enjoy Sci-Fi and so I watch most of it, but Trek, in general, has always been a bit too ... optimisitic? goodie-goodie? I don't know. Something just a bit too sweet and altruistic about it.
Lower Decks though - I get into that.
I hate it. Maybe they shouldn't have messed with the alternate universe crap.
Blowing up Vulcan? And those Klingons? How did they think that was going to go over.
It was just a big "fuck you" to Star trek fans.
I forgot about that. Yeah, I didn't like the Klingons either, bad memory must've suppressed that part lol!