What If... Wrath of Khan Bombed?

[Wee67]

What if question for the group- So Paramount goes with an earlier, crappier script for Wrath of Khan. It fails. Miserably. Add this to the general disappointment of The Motion Picture (yeah, I know plenty of us like TMP, but it did not go over well for most). Does the failure of Khan put an end to the Star Trek franchise? Does a Khan failure keep the studios from making the rest of the Trek films? Does it convince producers it’s not worth creating The Next Generation?

I think we fans sometimes overestimate the strength of our influence. Maybe fandom might push for something in today's world of Hollywood having to base new stuff existing properties (c'mon Supertrain reboot!) I know the Trek fan base would continue, but without more crossover support would it end Star Trek? I think we fans sometimes overestimate the strength of our influence.

[Nostalgiabuff]

i think that would have ended it for the original crew. we would likely have gotten some type of reboot eventually

[Mikey]

I think if WOK bombed Star Trek (either the Classic Series or a "New Generation") would have been eventually produced somewhere down the line.

My guess would be a television series starting with a few TV movies, Phase-2 mark-2

[knight errant00]

I read recently that, with WOK being produced under the Paramount TV division, the back-up plan in case of the movie going bust was to bring it back to TV and add the new episodes to the existing TOS syndication package. Supposedly, Kirstie Alley and Merritt Buttrick had contract clauses about the possible TV follow-up.

So imagine that TV series -- would it have taken off like TNG did a few years later? or would we have gotten just one or two more seasons of the TOS cast in a refit enterprise and monster maroons?

[sprytel]

I would not assume that a crappy Star Trek II would have flopped. Wrath of Khan is a brilliant movie on so many levels, but it had a built-in fanbase and a lot of moviegoers eager for more sci-fi movies after Star Wars and ESB. Even a bad movie probably would have been a modest success financially.

But yes, if it flopped critically and financially, I think that would have killed Star Trek.

Why?

1. Star Trek was a success in syndication, spawned an animated series, had Mego figures, etc... but you could say the same about Happy Days. No guarantee it was destined for more.
2. Cinematic movies based on TV shows were still pretty rare. You had things like the Adam West "Batman" movie and the Get Smart "Nude Bomb"... but they basically just cashed in and the studio moved on to the next thing.
3. Movie "franchises" were less commonplace in general.
4. Shatner had TJ Hooker. Nimoy probably wouldn't have come back for WOK if it weren't for the improved script. So it is unlikely they would have continued if the second movie was a flop.
5. Rebooting Star Trek with a new cast was a gamble for TNG, and that was at time where Star Trek was riding a wave of popularity. No way they would recast and reboot after a poorly received Star Trek II.
6. Star Wars had changed the expectations of special effects, and good special effects are expensive. While it is possible to thread that needle (as WOK shows), why bother? Just make a buddy cop movie or a sex comedy and save the headache.

[Mikey]

I have my doubts about a revived late 70's early 80's Star Trek TV series becoming a hit.

That era of sci-fi TV seems to be dominated with shows like Battlestar, Buck, Galactica 80 etc ... which would taint Trek's seriousness.

TV producers in that era would most likely ape the above shows vibes and make Trek a spoof of itself.

[publiusr]

Imagine in WOK was the first Trek movie.

If I could go back in time…I would take the movie back pre-TMP…but maybe have Enterprise and Reliant perish together…with Saavik and David escaping in a Shuttle…

[Mikey]

Most people forget about the humanity in a Gene Roddenberry production.

Without that we get Aliens Colonial Marines --- KILL-KILL-KILL !!!

Cool watch on the spot, but doesn't give you anything to think about later

[Klosterheim]

The possibilities are interesting.

Star Trek IV is probably what made TNG possible, liked by most or all movie goers.

It seems like a new Star Trek TV Series would have been pushed either way, with the idea of Phase II being out there, there probably would have been some mixture of ideas that came together, the old things combined with the new The Wrath of Khan elements. It might have gone in a direction where starship combat would be a larger part of the overall series, instead of having a little action here and there with landing parties or ships, they would create some type of threat, where in the show, skills and knowledge of ship to ship battles becomes their priority. Great importance to the characters of Starfleet and their adversaries.

TV producers, converting movies to TV, seem to latch on to one thing and magnify it.