Topic: Box office numbers for the Star Trek movies

[EschelonOfJudgemnt]

In relation to some comments I saw posted on another site (Dailytech), I felt the need to look up the box office numbers for the various Trek movies.

Certainly, the more recent movies had bigger box office numbers, but after adjusting for ticket price inflation, here is how the movies stack up:

Rank       Movie                                                          Adj. Gross        Unadj. Gross       Release Date
1           Star Trek                                                   $275,002,200   $257,730,019            5/8/09
2           Star Trek: The Motion Picture                    $260,867,500     $82,258,456          12/7/79
3           Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home                $229,804,900   $109,713,132         11/26/86
4           Star Trek Into Darkness                            $217,312,400    $228,778,661          5/16/13
5         Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan               $213,655,500      $78,912,963            6/4/82
6          Star Trek III: The Search for Spock           $181,163,600      $76,471,046            6/1/84
7          Star Trek: First Contact                             $165,101,400      $92,027,888       11/22/96
8          Star Trek: Generations                              $143,641,000      $75,671,125        11/18/94
9          Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country  $142,450,100      $74,888,996           12/6/91
10        Star Trek: Insurrection                              $117,001,600      $70,187,658        12/11/98
11        Star Trek V: The Final Frontier                   $104,683,100     $52,210,049        6/9/89
12        Star Trek: Nemesis                                       $58,587,900     $43,254,409         12/13/02
TOTAL:                                                               $2,109,271,100  $1,242,104,402   -
AVERAGE:                                                          $175,772,600      $103,508,700   

Box Office numbers are from here:


I would have thought that STII:TWOK would have rated higher, based on the number of people that cite that as the best Trek  movie.  My fave (STVI:TUC) came it at 9...
STV beat out Nemesis...  Wow, did  Nemesis have sucky box office numbers!  It's pretty sad when a movie released 13 years earlier made still made $9 million more, in unadjusted dollars... Nemesis is the only movie that didn't break $100 Million (adjusted) in today's box office dollars.

It's interesting to note that ST:TMP comes in fairly close to Star Trek in adjusted Box Office numbers, and that the Whales beat out Into Darkness... of course there are several memorable quotables in STIV...
Nuclear Wessels anyone?
and one of my faves...
Everyone remember where we parked!

[Corbomite]

Don't forget "I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space."


ST:TMP benefited from the expectation wave, and TWOK suffered from the slight backlash that TMP didn't quite live up to expectations (and that you really needed to know the back story to completely enjoy it on all levels). ST:IV was not the best Trek movie as they go out of their way to violate the Temporal Prime Directive at every turn, but had the wider audience appeal of occuring in our century (less technobabble and unfamiliar things) and had the whales which were big in the public conciousness at that time. I seem to be in the minority, but I love ST:III. It has the best McCoy lines ever and Christopher Lloyd was the best Klingon they've had IMO. I always enjoy watching it.

[knightstorm]

I seem to be in the minority, but I love ST:III.

I'm part of an even smaller minority that likes ST V.  I guess part of my fondness for it comes from the fact that it was the first Trek film that I saw in theaters.  I'm also fascinated with cults which gives the storyline further appeal to me.  I do find it a bit ominous in some regards since Nichelle Nichols' younger brother committed suicide with the Heaven's Gate cult a few years later.  Also, Tupac apparently liked it too.

2pac pain

[Vipre]

There are a couple more adjustments that would be interesting to add in. Theater for one. Yeah the reboot out-boxed TMP but it took 4 times the number of theaters to do it. The other might be population adjustment "X $ of tickets sold as a percentage of population at the time" or something like that.

Example:

Gross per thousand theaters shown in adjusting for ticket price inflation

    ST:TMP    $260,346,806.39 per 1000 theaters
    ST:II        $134,950,832.82 per 1000
    ST:IV       $120,291,513.29
    ST:III         $94,347,812.82
    ST:VI         $67,932,137.87
    Star Trek    $67,851,517.39
    ST:FC        $60,114,615.93
    ST:ID         $56,948,937.80
    ST:Gen      $54,856,247.67
    ST:V          $48,674,750.23
    ST:Ins       $44,749,495.70
    Nem          $22,127,001.11

Big difference. Who knows what TMP might have done if given the same release spread as Trek 09.

[knightstorm]

Another thing to take into account with the reboot was the level of hype and marketing.  I don't remember any of the real Trek films in my lifetime recieving the level of promotion that Abrams gave his garbage.

[Age]

I happen to like ST.V as we get to see more of the A and shuttles used.I do like the fact that Melanie Shatner appears in it as a yeoman in a skirt.

[EschelonOfJudgemnt]

To be fair, I really enjoyed Star Trek V, right up until they arrived at the Galactic Core.  I think that, if the last half/third of that movie had been scripted differently, it would have been more appealing to me as a whole.  It's the last third/half of that movie that turned me off.


And, having been one of the droves of teenagers that saw ST:TMP on the big screen, that movie still has the wow factor for me.  The sets and model work they did in that movie is astounding even today.  Sure, the story is a bit plodding, but that movie had a great soundtrack as well.  Seeing the trio of Klingon Battlecruisers, as well as the new Klingon makeup, not to mention the debut of the Klingon and (a more completely thought out) Vulcan languages (we only had a few language snippets of the Vulcan language in the series), well quite simply that movie laid a lot of new groundwork, which the franchise has benefitted from ever since.

And yeah, the Klingon theme from ST:TMP is still one of my fave Star Trek music snippets.  STII had some very memorable music as well.

Christopher Lloyd certainly did a great job as a Klingon as well, no question.  My 'quintessential' Klingon from a looks perspective, even though he had only a couple of lines, is in ST VI.  That'd be Brigadier Kerla, probably because he looks so handsome and well groomed for a Klingon.

I don't expect my Klingons to be angry all the time, which is probably why I relate more with Kerla.

Star Trek VI had a lot of fun coming up with new 'looks' for the different Klingons, hence probably why I relate with it so much.  A race should have a lot of diversity, and it shows in STVI.

But I digress...

So yeah, color me a TMP fanboy.  I still enjoy watching that movie.  Plus, Persis Khambatta looked pretty hot for a bald woman!

[Corbomite]

It wasn't so much Lloyd's anger per se, it was his ruthlessness. We really hadn't seen that level since Kor in TOS.

[Brush Wolf]

Don't forget "I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space."


ST:TMP benefited from the expectation wave, and TWOK suffered from the slight backlash that TMP didn't quite live up to expectations (and that you really needed to know the back story to completely enjoy it on all levels). ST:IV was not the best Trek movie as they go out of their way to violate the Temporal Prime Directive at every turn, but had the wider audience appeal of occuring in our century (less technobabble and unfamiliar things) and had the whales which were big in the public conciousness at that time. I seem to be in the minority, but I love ST:III. It has the best McCoy lines ever and Christopher Lloyd was the best Klingon they've had IMO. I always enjoy watching it.

TMP is actually a decent movie but it was not the Trek we knew. ST III is outside of the reincarnation business was good Trek and Christopher Lloyd defined the Klingon's for the rest of time.

[FPF-Tobin Dax]

World Population By Year




Year Population
2015* 7,215,000,000
2014* 7,141,000,000
2013 7,086,000,000
2012 6,992,000,000
2011 6,916,000,000
2010 6,840,000,000
2009 6,765,000,000
2008 6,689,000,000
2007 6,613,000,000
2006 6,538,000,000
2005 6,462,000,000
2004 6,387,000,000
2003 6,311,000,000
2002 6,234,000,000
2001 6,158,000,000
2000 6,081,000,000
1999 6,004,000,000
1998 5,926,000,000
1997 5,847,000,000
1996 5,766,000,000
1995 5,687,000,000
1994 5,606,000,000
1993 5,526,000,000
1992 5,444,000,000
1991 5,361,000,000
1990 5,278,000,000
1989 5,191,000,000
1988 5,105,000,000
1987 5,018,000,000
1986 4,933,000,000
1985 4,850,000,000
1984 4,770,000,000
1983 4,690,000,000
1982 4,610,000,000
1981 4,530,000,000
1980 4,454,000,000
1979 4,378,000,000

[Vipre]

US population would be what's needed for these numbers but yeah, US pop in '79 was 73% of the pop in '09. Factor that info in alone and Trek09 drops to $201,753,741.02, TMP still whips it.

[Tulwar]

How do these numbers compare to JJ Trek?

[FPF-DieHard]

I've just finished re-watching all the original cast ST movies . . . 5 was pure sh*t.  I'm not sure how anyone could like that movie.  I need to re-watch Nemesis to see which one was worst.

Best one?  6.

[FPF-DieHard]

To be fair, I really enjoyed Star Trek V, right up until they arrived at the Galactic Core.  I think that, if the last half/third of that movie had been scripted differently, it would have been more appealing to me as a whole.  It's the last third/half of that movie that turned me off.

Shatner is a sh*tty director.  That's why the movie sucked.

[knightstorm]

I've just finished re-watching all the original cast ST movies . . . 5 was pure sh*t.  I'm not sure how anyone could like that movie.

Compared to Abrams' garbage its a work of art.

To be fair, I really enjoyed Star Trek V, right up until they arrived at the Galactic Core.  I think that, if the last half/third of that movie had been scripted differently, it would have been more appealing to me as a whole.  It's the last third/half of that movie that turned me off.

Shatner is a sh*tty director.  That's why the movie sucked.

Don't dis Shatner.  The only known being who can compare to him in awesomeness is David Hasselhoff.  Its rumored that Chuck Norris might surpass them, but no one has ever gotten close enough to assess his awesomeness and lived to tell the tale.

[FPF-DieHard]

Don't dis Shatner.  The only known being who can compare to him in awesomeness is David Hasselhoff.  Its rumored that Chuck Norris might surpass them, but no one has ever gotten close enough to assess his awesomeness and lived to tell the tale.

Shatner is great at being Shatner, but he's a sh*tty director.

[Brush Wolf]

http://youtu.be/HU2ftCitvyQ

[knightstorm]

Don't dis Shatner.  The only known being who can compare to him in awesomeness is David Hasselhoff.  Its rumored that Chuck Norris might surpass them, but no one has ever gotten close enough to assess his awesomeness and lived to tell the tale.

Shatner is great at being Shatner, but he's a sh*tty director.

FOOL! Shatner does everything right.  He's two parts god one part man.

[Vipre]

My ears might be broken, all I hear in that video is Shatner saying "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra".

[Tulwar]

Don't dis Shatner.  The only known being who can compare to him in awesomeness is David Hasselhoff.  Its rumored that Chuck Norris might surpass them, but no one has ever gotten close enough to assess his awesomeness and lived to tell the tale.

Shatner is great at being Shatner, but he's a sh*tty director.

Shatner directed STV, back when he was hating on nerdy trekkies.  A few years later, when he started seeing pretty girls show up at conventions, slathered in green paint, all of the sudden Star Trek was "fun."  As far as being "awesome," I have another word.  It also begins with an "A," but end in a "hole."