3 Reasons Star Trek should stop making new Kelvin movies
By Chad Porto
You know what to expect (financially)
The Star Trek film franchise is not a blockbuster entity. Not compared to the likes of Star Wars, Marvel, and DC-themed movies, among others. You know that if you make a fourth film without major shakeups, you’re going to make $300-$400 million, and that’s not counting the continuing decline that domestic and international box offices have been dealing with as of late. Who knows what the theater-market will look like after COVID-19?
People may never go back. Sure, movies like Scoob! and Trolls World Tour has given people the idea that streaming to home media outlets can work, it’s still not a proven success. It’s also not known how studios will go forward. Some may cut ties with theaters entirely, what will the market for blockbusters look like then?
Beyond that, Star Trek‘s film franchise has never been that huge of a property thematically. Adjusted for inflation, the franchise has just under $4 billion in revenue across all its films. The MCU in just ten years is at $22 billion. Star Trek took 40 years to get to just shy of $4 billion, and that’s with just all the Star Trek films being modified for inflation.
The Trek film franchise isn’t the big get many seem to think it is. The highest-grossing film (with or without inflation) is Star Trek: Into Darkness. The second biggest film? Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 34 years prior. Granted, that was with a box office of only $139 million, but adjusted for inflation, that’s $495 million in 2020 (Into Darkness 2020 adjustment is $519 million).
If you’re looking for a billion-dollar film, it likely won’t come from this form of Star Trek.