Chris Pine explains why Star Trek has “struggled” compared to Marvel

It’s been over five years since Star Trek Beyond, the last “Kelvin timeline” Star Trek film starring the likes of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldaña. Since then, the Star Trek film series died down while the franchise exploded on the small screen.

But then, all of a sudden, Paramount announced that a fourth Star Trek movie starring Pine and company was in development…much to the surprise of Pine and company, who found out along with everyone else.

Still, Pine has since talked to director Matt Shakman and is on board to return to the final frontier. “Conceptually, I love it,” he told Deadline. “I love Star Trek. Again, I love the messaging of it. I love the character. I love my friends with whom I get to play. It’s a great gig. I mean, it’s a gig I’ve had, working and not working, for 15-plus years. It cemented the career that I have now. I’m honored to be a part of it. It’s given me so much. I think there are plenty of stories to tell in it. You know, I think Star Trek for me, it’s an interesting one.”

Chris Pine wonders how much longer Hollywood can make movies this way

But with so much love for Star Trek, why did the film franchise lay dormant for so long? According to Pine, the answer is simple: money.

“We always tried to get the huge international market,” he said. “It was always about making the billion dollars. It was always this billion-dollar mark because Marvel was making a billion. Billion, billion, billion. We struggled with it because Star Trek, for whatever reason, its core audience is rabid. Like rabid, as you know. To get these people that are interested that maybe are Star Wars fans or think Star Trek is not cool or whatever, proven to be … we’ve definitely done a good job of it but not the billion-dollar kind of job that they want.”

It’s true that Star Trek is a bit more niche than other fandoms. But it’s also true that movie studios want the most return possible, which has resulted in them retrofitting some stories that have very specific appeal to be broader, which can sometimes scrub the magic out of them. The Kelvin Star Trek movies were criticized for being a little too action-heavy, a little too divorced from the intellectual core of the earlier series. Make no mistake: that was on purpose, because the producers thought it would appeal to a wider audience.

But that kind of play doesn’t always work, as Pine points out. “I’ve always thought that Star Trek should operate in the zone that is smaller,” he said. “You know, it’s not a Marvel appeal. It’s like, let’s make the movie for the people that love this group of people, that love this story, that love Star Trek. Let’s make it for them and then, if people want to come to the party, great. But make it for a price and make it, so that if it makes a half-billion dollars, that’s really good.”

"But we operate in a system now which I don’t know how much longer we have of you have to spend 500 million dollars on a film to reach …even you have to pay all sorts of people back. So, to make a billion, it’s like you haven’t even — a billion is the gross. You haven’t brought your net in. So, I mean, if I had my business suit on, that’s what I would do, but I don’t know where that is. That’s all above my pay grade."

Sounds like Pine has a decent head for business. Maybe listen a bit, Paramount?

The fourth Star Trek movie hasn’t begun filming yet — Pine has yet to see a script — but it’s scheduled for release on December 22, 2023.

LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn join Star Trek: Picard season 3

Some late-breaking Star Trek news here: Paramount+ just dropped a teaser trailer announcing the third season of Star Trek: Picard. The show has already been a convenient place for veterans of Star Trek: The Next Generation to make cameo appearances; we’ve already caught up with Riker (Jonathan Frakes),  Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), and Data (Brent Spiner). And there’s more old friends on the way:

Yep, the third season of Star Trek: Picard will also include LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) and Michael Dorn (Worf).

There’s no release date for Picard season 3 yet, but expect it sometime in 2023.

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h/t CinemaBlend