I love Star Trek. Anyone who knows me knows that. In the giant warehouse of pop-culture that serves as my brain, there’s a huge filing cabinet that has STAR TREK emblazoned on the side. I love the original show, wobbly sets and all, and as a kid I read a photobook of The Trouble With Tribbles countless times. The Next Generation got me through some wild teenage years. Deep Space Nine was the dark side of Star Trek, and it helped me survive some dark times. Voyager… that was okay but not great. Enterprise wasn’t even okay.
When JJ Abrams rebooted the franchise with a splash at the movies a few years ago, it was hard not to love it. Fans loved it, critics loved it, I loved it. There was a problem with JJ’s vision though, and it was the rewriting of the timeline. Suddenly none of the series were deemed to have existed, except Enterprise. I know, it made me gag too. But it’s okay, I’ve gone through reboots of comics, TV shows and other movies, and they can’t replace the old stories in my heart.
Another problem that I later realised was timing. I’ve pointed out to others (who didn’t quite get it at the time, or else didn’t listen) that Star Trek Into Darkness has taken too long to get made. A four year gap between movies is a hell of a chunk of time. In the movie business, timing is everything. The Marvel movies are proof of this. There’s no way Iron Man 3 would have easily cruised past the $1 billion box office mark if it hadn’t followed The Avengers so closely. I’m convinced that if a new Incredible Hulk film were released today it would easily surpass the $260 million the last one made, simply because the fans want more Marvel. The fans wanted more Star Trek, and yet it took four years to cash in on that.
I’ve gone on record of saying that if JJ and the gang continue to adapt the original series at this speed, it’ll take 316 years to make all the movies, and by then I don’t think Chris Pine will have quite the same shine as he does now. The problem is that they can’t spin it off directly into a TV show either, because the actors are now all stars and the cost would be insane. Would they even lower themselves to doing a TV show? Would they all be able to make time in their busy schedules? I doubt it. If they did, and a nice budget was put on the show, it would be the best-looking show on TV. But it’s not likely.
JJ Abrams has backed the franchise into a corner. When he took over, it was barely on life-support. The shows had all died out, and fan interest was the only thing keeping it going. JJ came in, breathed new life into it, and managed to get it up to warp speed. There’s not a fan out there who was sorry this happened. To do this though, he had to jettison all the cargo that came with it, and present it as something new and fresh. The rewriting of the timeline took care of that. It’s a double-edged sword though. Everyone’s put money on JJ, and while the first $150 million gamble paid out, this time around it’s not looking quite as good. What if it fails?
When the characters themselves point out that this new timeline is how things are going and that the old one is obsolete, the fans have no choice but to follow and buy into it. It looks nice and shiny, and our fears are put to rest. When the original series struggled with ratings in the first two seasons, it was the fans who wrote letters that helped keep it going for a third season until the network pulled the plug. This time around letters won’t save it, but cash will. If Star Trek Into Darkness fails, or doesn’t meet certain profits, it’s over. What happens then? 40 years of history got ditched for the sake of a couple of films. Is that really an improvement in the franchise?
I’m not knocking the quality of the film. I’m not saying it’s bad at all, and as a fan I hope it does well. But there are lots of films made that are brilliant and don’t get the rewards they deserve. That’s what gets them a cult following. The studios don’t see it that way though. The movie business is just that, a business. If a film’s not making cash, don’t expect to see more of the same. Star trek Into Darkness cost a lot to make, and it’s got to make a lot more back if there’s to be another sequel. Either that or they’ll have to scale it down a notch and spend a whole lot less money on lens flares, if they want to keep on Trekking.
We’re playing JJ’s game, and JJ’s rules make it hipper, cooler, and flashier than the old one. In many ways that’s true. It’s Texas Hold ‘Em compared to traditional poker. It may not be better, but it’s newer. He cherry-picked the old game and the rest got junked to reinvent it. The new game hasn’t quite taken off as everyone hoped though, and if the movies don’t start making an impact then JJ’s pack of cards are going to get packed away after just a couple of hands.
