William Shatner is one of the actors most synonymous with the Star Trek franchise. He has been a part of the iconic franchise since its inception in 1966 when Gene Roddenberry launched Star Trek: The Original Series. He later appeared in a string of motion pictures, with Shatner directing the fifth installment, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
The film is arguably one of the worst entries in the franchise and nearly spelled its end. Aside from starring in it, Shatner also directed the film, which explored some pretty bold ideas even for a Star Trek project. However, the film’s critical and commercial failure resulted from a compromise between Shatner and Roddenberry. Here is what Shatner had to say about the compromise that doomed Star Trek V.
William Shatner regrets compromising with Gene Roddenberry on Star Trek V
Gene Roddenberry launched the ambitious sci-fi drama Star Trek in 1966 with Star Trek: The Original Series soaring in popularity in the coming decades. By 1989, the franchise was arguably enjoying its golden days, going strong on television with a new spin-off series and four successful motion pictures.
After Spock actor Leonard Nimoy directed the third and fourth installments, William Shatner was offered the director’s chair for the fifth entry. In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Shatner’s Captain Kirk and his crew travel to space in search of God only to find an alien who thinks of themselves as Satan.
Shatner reflected on the film’s failure in his book Live Long And…What I Might Have Learned Along The Way. The actor revealed that his original idea was to have the Enterprise search for God but Roddenberry wanted to make it an alien.
I had a choice. I could accept the compromise or refuse to direct the movie. I made a mistake; I accepted the compromise, which doomed the picture from the beginning.
Shatner made the above statement (via ComicBook.com), admitting that he should’ve never accepted the conceptual compromise to begin with.
Because of its shakey concept, the film was largely panned by critics. It was also a financial failure, grossing only $70 million, against a reported budget of $30 million (via The Numbers). As a result, its failure nearly buried the Star Trek franchise.
William Shatner explained the challenges he faced on Star Trek V
Aside from having to compromise with Roddenberry, Shatner had no shortage of challenges while working on the now-infamous movie. The actor faced trouble managing the film’s budget and had to make some difficult choices. Shatner recalled these challenges in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
I got the chance to direct a several-million-dollar movie, Star Trek V, and I did not get the help I needed in allocating my budget, so when it came to shooting the ending — needing a good villain and lots of computer graphics — I had run out of money.
Shatner made the above comment, expressing regret over the mismanagement of the budget and apologizing for the film’s poor output.
The Boston Legal actor explained that he could not achieve the desired result for the film’s ambitious climax on the budget he was allocated. In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Shatner blamed himself for making poor practical choices, resulting in the poorly crafted climax, which left most fans disappointed.
The Star Trek movies and shows are streaming on Paramount+.
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