Star Trek: Nemesis
Rate Movie[Total: 19 Average: 2.1]
- Directed By: Stuart Baird
- Written By: John Logan
- Release Date: December 13, 2002
- Domestic Distributor: Paramount
- Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Tom Hardy
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $65 million | Financed by: Paramount |
|---|---|
| Domestic Box Office: $43,254,409 | Overseas Box Office: $24,058,417 |
“The director was an idiot! Stuart Baird…son of a bitch!”
–Marina Sirtis
Just before the release of Star Trek: Nemesis, Viacom Entertainment Group Chairman Jonathan Dolgen said he was proud of the film, not because of quality, but “because it only cost $65 million.“ Paramount financed the tenth Star Trek entry and scheduled the picture just before the crowded end of the year holidays on December 13.
In addition to an expensive domestic marketing spend, Paramount partnered with Valpak, where the company sent out over 10 million Star Trek envelopes and additional promotional tie-ins were with Activision, McAfee software, Safeway Stores and the fast-food chain Del Taco. Nemesis opened against Maid in Manhattan, Drumline and The Hot Chick and received unenthusiastic reviews.
Franchise fatigue saw Nemesis open to a so-so $18,513,305 — placing #2 at the box office behind the rom-com Maid In Manhattan. Star Trek: Nemesis posted one of the biggest second weekend declines on record at 76.2% to $4,415,081 when The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers opened. It declined a small 8.2% over the busy christmas frame to $4,054,107 but it was too little, too late. Star Trek: Nemesis sputtered out of release with $43,254,409 — troubling numbers since up until this point in Star Trek releases, most of the movies pulled in about 65% of its box office from the domestic market and Nemesis was the lowest grossing Star Trek feature. The stateside run accounted for 64.3% of the gross.
The poor $24 million overseas cume was largely comprised of $8.2 million from Germany and $7.6 million from the UK and most markets pulled in less than $1 million. Paramount would see returned about $37 million after theaters take their percentage of the worldwide gross, which would not even cover P&A costs. So much for the successful even-numbered sequels theory. Future installments were canceled after the movie’s dismal performance and later rebooted to much more success in 2009.
It’s unfortunate that this movie tanked so hard that they had to reboot the franchise, because we were only two movies away from getting Star Trek XII: So Very Tired.