Jonathan Frakes Discusses 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 talking to my friends after, one of the things we discussed was how it didn’t even really feel like a Star Trek movie. It felt like something else but with Star Trek characters.

Well, there’s a reason for that, and Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes discussed why the movie ultimately didn’t work. Frakes has had a lot of experience with Star Trek as both a star of the franchise and a director. He was the guy that should’ve been brought on board to direct the movie, but instead, the studio hired Stuart Baird (U.S. Marshall, Executive Decision), and the whole thing was just out of his wheelhouse.

In the oral history book The Fifty-Year Mission (via /Film), Frakes was asked about what happened with the film, and he explained:

"With 'Nemesis' it was as if the Fates stepped in. We had John Logan, who's an A-list writer. We had what was a great company back together again. Tom Hardy was a brilliant guest star. My take on it, though, was that there was not enough of the family. It 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 very much a story about the obsession of Shinzon, Tom Hardy's character. The front end of the movie with the wedding of Riker and Troi, and which was so charming, just got cut to bits. We originally had [returning actors] Whoopi [Goldberg] and Wil Wheaton and all of these Easter eggs in there, and Brent [Spiner] sang. It was a big deal that got cut up to nothing."

The movie really did have everything going for it. There was a ton of talent behind the film and it’s so crazy to me that it didn’t turn out to be the great film it should’ve been. Frakes did offer to help in any way that he could because he wanted the movie to be great! He knew the potential, but unfortunately, Baird never took him up on 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 Nemesis' fate. At the same time, I remember calling him and saying, 'If there's anything I can do to help you, I've been around these people for all these years.' And I think in 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 this and we're really happy to help make the best movie you can.' And he didn't pick up either of those offers. In retrospect, it seems like arrogance. Why wouldn't you accept that kind of offer?"

However, The Next Generation actress Marina Sirtis, who plays Counsellor Deanna Troi in the franchise, was 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 of someone that wasn’t willing to take advantage of the help he was offered. It didn’t really help his career as this was the last movie that Baird directed. But, he did go on to edit a bunch of films including Casino Royale, Skyfall, and more.

Nemesis ended up being a box office bomb, the first in the franchise grossing only $67 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. It wasn’t until JJ Abrams stepped in to get the film franchise back up and running, but that didn’t last long and once again, the film franchise is back in the dumps.