Jonathan Frakes Explains Why STAR TREK: NEMESIS Didn’t Work; Marina Sirtis says: “The director was an idiot”

I remember being incredibly disappointed when I walked out of the theater after watching Star Trek: Nemesis. When I spoke to my friends afterward, one of the things we discussed was how it didn’t even look like a Star Trek movie. It looked like something else but with Star Trek characters.

Well, there’s a reason for that, and he’s a Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes they discussed why the film ultimately didn’t work out. Frakes has had a lot of experience with Star Trek both as star of the franchise and director. He was the person who should have been hired to direct the film, but the studio hired him instead Stuart Baird (US Marshall, executive decision), and the whole thing was just out of his league.

In the oral history book The fifty-year mission (via /Film), Frakes was asked what happened with the film and explained:

“With ‘Nemesis’ it was as if Destiny had intervened. We had John Logan, who is a first-rate writer. We had what was great company together again. Tom Hardy was a brilliant guest star. My take on this,” however, was that there wasn’t enough of the family. There was a little too much of Shinzon and not enough of Picard and Data. The first weekend people came to see Bones, Kirk and Spock, or Picard and Data, you know what I mean? The story of “Nemesis” was largely a story about the obsession with Shinzon, Tom Hardy’s character. The opening part of the film with Riker and Troi’s wedding, and that was so glamorous, was torn apart. We originally had [returning actors] Whoopi [Goldberg] and Wil Wheaton and all these Easter eggs in there, and Brent [Spiner] He sang. It was a big deal that was reduced to nothing.”

The film really ticked all the boxes. There was a lot of talent behind the film and it’s just so crazy to me that it didn’t turn out to be the great film it should have been. Frakes offered to help him in any way he could because he wanted the movie to be great! He knew the potential, but unfortunately Baird never accepted his offer. frakes said:

“It didn’t help that Stuart Baird was trying to reinvent the wheel, but I don’t think you can blame the director for the fate of Nemesis. At the same time, I remember calling him and saying, ‘If there’s anything what can I do’, do to help you, I’ve been with these people all these years.’ And I think on the same phone call I said, “We’re really here to help. You’ll find that we’re a very strong team and we know how to do it and we’re really happy to help you get the best movie you can.” And he didn’t accept any of those offers. In retrospect, it looks like arrogance. Why wouldn’t you accept that kind of offer?”

However, The next generation actress Marina Sirtis, who plays councilwoman Deanna Troi on the series, has been much more honest about what went wrong with the film, as she said, “The director was an idiot.” I guess that’s a fair assessment against someone who wasn’t willing to take advantage of the help he was offered. It didn’t help his career much as this was the last film directed by Baird. But he went on to edit a string of films including Casino Royale, Skyfall and others.

Nemesis proved to be a box office bomb, the first in the franchise to gross just $67 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. It wasn’t until JJ Abrams stepped in to get the film franchise back on track, but it didn’t last long, and once again, the film franchise was back in the dumps.