ZDONK

The past decade has been huge for remakes of classic films, or in this case, rebooting franchises. It is definitely a very tough task to accomplish, mainly because it is virtually impossible to please everyone. You have the original classic lovers, the younger audience who could not care less about an “old” version, and a lot of people in the middle who maybe never even heard of it. 

It is not easy to accomplish what Chris Nolan did with the Batman franchise, and I give also a lot of credit to Warner Brothers for taking the risk. I also give well deserved credit to Paramount for believing in J.J. Abrams to reboot Star Trek and accomplish what no other Star Trek film had been able to do: become a massive hit beyond the fan base. 

We can easily say that this will be the biggest Star Trek movie ever in terms of box office. The movie had a very strong opening this weekend with a total of $76.5 million, and the cause for its success has to be credited to both Abrams and a wonderful marketing campaign. They were able to reach everyone, from the hardcore fans to regular people who had never watched a Star Trek film before. All of them responded in a positive way. 

In comparison, the last Star Trek film released in 2002, Nemesis, made only $43 million in its total box office run. The most successful Star Trek film of all was “The Voyage Home”, released in 1986 and making a total of $109 million, which of course the latest installment is expected to surpass by the end of this week.

Another interesting box office fact is that other successful franchise-reboots such as Batman Begins, Superman Returns or The Incredible Hulk had openings in the $45-$55 million range, making Star Trek’s start even more impressive.

Abrams proved once again his worth within this new generation of directors and producers that try to reboot or re-imagine stories and update them in a creative and sophisticated way. He didn’t need huge stars headlining his film. He didn’t go beyond his means to reinvent special effects or create headlines with some innovative technique. He focused on the story, and like on Lost, he put effort in developing these characters. 

It is clear that J.J. Abrams took Star Trek “where no other Star Trek had gone before”. A new generation of fans will now join the ageless generation that was already in line early on Thursday, and if they continue to be smart about it the next installment can be even bigger than this one.