Possible effect the success (or failure) or Star Trek XI could have on SGU

[jenks]

I've been reading I bit about the new Star Trek movie, and it seems to be a younger feeling version of Star Trek with more humour and action, and also being more character driven. To me this sounds like it brings it pretty much in line which what SGU is aiming for, and given that the new Star Trek sounds like it will be a hit (and will most likely spawn more movies than a series), does this open up the possibility for Stargate to capitalise on this audience? Could SGU fill the gap between ST movies for a new found interest in the genre?

Discuss.

[Madwelshboy]

Star Trek looks like its going to have a good opening weekend, but that doesnt mean that the film will have staying power. A lot of people are comment that the numbers for the weekend are mainly because the franchise's devoted base of hard-core fans, who haven't seen Trek on the small or big screen in year. If it dose have decent number next week, then these obvious new fans have been drawing in, making it a success. But if these a huge drop for next week then, its still made more money than other Trek films, but it wont be as much of a success as hoped. Their way, I really don't think it will make that much difference.

I read this article a little while ago "The Great Sci-Fi Divide: Why don't we want science fiction on TV?", it talks about how sci-fi shows are being killed on TV, but that sci-fi films are doing relatively well at the box office. So IMO success or failure of Trek, really will not effect SGU in any big way.

What is it about science fiction that home viewers are turned off by? It can't be the genre itself: If you look at the top 10 grossing movies of all time, six of them are sci-fi (and the others have pirates, hobbits, and ogres...and, yes, a boat). Clearly, the American public loves their science fiction...why don't they want it on a regular basis, piped into their living rooms, for free?

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009...-fi-on-tv.html

[jenks]

I'm convinced Star Trek will be a success, I've heard nothing but good things so far, and that's mostly from people who aren't into scifi too. The success of scifi on TV I'm not too sure about, I would put that down to the cheese factor for the most part, which I'm hopeful SGU will probably avoid (compared to shows like Star Trek, B5 etc. anyway). I think Star Trek is different to most scifi though, in that the name is always going to be linked more with TV than movies, and I would expect the audience it draws will look to a series afterwards, which I doubt the studio will want to do if they can make more money from movies. I suppose the impact on SGU probably won't be significant, though on the other hand I doubt it'll be non-existent either.

[Jack_Bauer]

Saw the movie yesterday. I have never been a Star Trek fan or anything, seen maybe one or two movies and no eps. I enjoyed the movie, but i can see that a lot of Star trek fans will not because it screws with the timeline.

But at the end of the day, it really was just a movie, nothing grand and spectacular. So i dont thin it will have massive staying power and help/hinder SGU

[Mugwuffin]

I saw the new Trek yesterday and I have to say as more of casual viewer of Trek more than a fan I would have to say it was very good lots of action and humour as Jenks pointed out... it also had a bit of a heart felt core which is always good but I doubt SGU will be anything like it, SGU looks like it will be more serious not so much BSG style but nothing like old Stargate in terms of humour and not so much like this new Star Trek.

So I wouldnt expect people who like this new movie to get into SGU because they will be quite different in terms of direction and focus.

[jenks]

I wouldn't worry about the humour in Stargate drying up any time soon, not really something that they could have put in those trailers, though the producers and actors assure us it's still there

[Mugwuffin]

Yeah I think your right it'll still be there I just don't think it will be as obvious as say O'Neill or Shep's style.

I can't imagine Carlyle drawing smiley faces on plates while coming up with his evil shenanigans.

[Lahela]

I would put more significance in how other films do. If you look at the big 5 scifi/fantasy films that are being released this spring/summer, Star Trek must be the lightest of the lot - Terminator, Transformers, Wolverine and Harry Potter are all pretty dark and are all aimed at the demographic that Skiffy has been talking about for SGU. They are all very character centred too, so I think SGU is going in just the right direction

[Deevil]

You know, the success of the movie will not really draw people into the genre. People, quite often, fear the genre. They see it as original Star Trek was - cheesy and OTT, and they see the fans as people who dress up like klingons and live at home with their parents... for well, ever.

They fail to see that shows like BSG, and Babylon 5 have had clear story - and character arcs that tells stories that are more akin to drama's then cheesy Sci Fi.

In the end, SG:U's fanbase wont swell with new films, they will swell - potentially - because of actors existing fanbases and genuine curiosity of the typical Sci-Fi channel viewer.

[jenks]

I would put more significance in how other films do. If you look at the big 5 scifi/fantasy films that are being released this spring/summer, Star Trek must be the lightest of the lot - Terminator, Transformers, Wolverine and Harry Potter are all pretty dark and are all aimed at the demographic that Skiffy has been talking about for SGU. They are all very character centred too, so I think SGU is going in just the right direction

I wasn't really thinking abut how dark it was to be honest, more about the slightly younger cast and the introduction of humour etc. I don't think many people would enjoy Terminator, Transformers, Wolverine or Harry Potter and as a consequence be more likely to give SGU a try, whereas I think a few people might see the similarities with Star Trek and give it a look where they mightn't have otherwise.

[knowles2]

I do not think so.
Let face most people going to see that film this week were either already fans or were there because of the special effects/overrated movie reviews.

Scifi movies are a cut above the rest when it come to making money at the box office, so they get the money neccessary to do the special effects, explosions and to create big advertisement campagns and pay of reviewers with big parties, lap dances given by Orion slave girls, specially hired for the occasion. Why TV science fiction, they have to scrap and fight for even the tiniest bit of money and publicity and even advertising on TV with only the light stuff get anything near notice by mainstream media.

SGU, unless MGM and Scifi are going advertise the hell out of it at cinemas where these the films are showing, they are unlikely to be able to attract the audience. This might not because of the content but more because people simply will not ever see SGU advertise TV screens, when was the last time sky advertise it on a channel other than there own. So I believe it will have next to zero effect on the audience numbers.

Considering the cast of SGU, if they can sought out the legal stuff, which is the biggest thing stopping a cinema release film, it the most likely to achieve success big enough for them to do a film for the box office, ie pay off Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich .
Robert Carlyle name will hopefully attract mainstream media attention to the TV series, I read that Sky 1 actually had competition to get airing rights for it in the uk, just because his name was attach to it. From who, I do not know , my guest would be Virgin 1 or FIVE/ITV/BBC, one of those four.

[Naomi]

I don't think Star Trek's latest movie's success, or failure, will have an influence on Universe's success, or failure. I think it's comparing apples to oranges.

The Star Trek saga is iconic; it started, and was frequently repeated, on broadcast television (almost anyone with a television could view it); and it is at least somewhat familiar to people who are not science fiction fans. The Stargate saga is (in my area, at least) shown almost exclusively on cable, with sporadic repeats at inconsistent times - i.e., textbook how not to establish a viewing audience - on broadcast networks (shame on whomever is in charge of getting the Stargate series into syndication); and many folks without cable tv, and many folks with cable tv, are not familiar with the Stargate series. Youth factor? The newly released Star Trek movie has a youthful cast because it is a prequel to the original Star Trek. I think Universe has a youthful cast because of the "we make more money if we target youths" idea, and if the series lasts for years, the cast will age into the series.

I think the latest Star Trek movie inspiring folks to explore additional facets of science fiction entertainment would be wonderful, but I doubt that it will happen.

[Col. Matarrese]

I saw the new Trek on Friday and absolutely loved it. It had a lot of the old Trek (TOS) still in it, but it felt newer at the same time. The dynamic really worked. If this is what TPTB have in mind for SGU, and they pull it off, I think it'll be a huge hit. It just goes to show that their mindset actually does have some merit.

Although, how much of that was just JJ Abrams being...JJ Abrams...well, that's another story entirely.

[Coronach]

I saw the new Trek on Friday and absolutely loved it. It had a lot of the old Trek (TOS) still in it, but it felt newer at the same time. The dynamic really worked. If this is what TPTB have in mind for SGU, and they pull it off, I think it'll be a huge hit. It just goes to show that their mindset actually does have some merit.

Although, how much of that was just JJ Abrams being...JJ Abrams...well, that's another story entirely.

Very true, haha. I actually saw it on Friday as well, and I agree that I really enjoyed it. I am not much of a Trek fan, and I know very little about the characters. However, the two people I was with said it really did a good job of staying true to the franchise, and they both really enjoyed it as well.

However, I agree Madwelshboy, in that Sci-Fi movies are (for some reason) viewed differently than Sci-Fi shows in society. It's likely a budget thing (i.e. lots of cool, flashy effects), but still, I'm not sure if the success of the movie will mean much for breaking that stigma...but maybe it could?

[Vyse99]

I think it'll help SGU, a lot of people who not normally Sci-Fi fans are loving Star Trek and they might be interested in seeing other Sci-Fi franchises, esp those with a broad appeal.