All Star Trek movies, sorted by box office

Few companies (no pun intended) have managed to endure in pop culture history the way Star Trek has. Although it had relatively humble beginnings as a 1960s sci-fi television series (and a groundbreaking one at that), Gene Roddenberry's beloved creation eventually blossomed into a massive multimedia franchise that has been going strong for nearly 60 years at this point. no signs of slowing down.

Although “Star Trek: The Original Series” was canceled after only three seasonsthe show eventually became a big hit in syndication. It opened the door to a new life, one that would take shape on the big screen. Beginning with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” in 1979, Trekkies have long enjoyed deep space exploration with the various captains of the USS Enterprise in film form, as well as the many different TV shows that have hit the airwaves over the years. Many of these films have achieved significant success. Others? Not so much.

So which Star Trek movie is the highest at the box office? Which of these major motion pictures resonated with audiences? Which ones fell? Which ones represented the best price? We're here to take a deeper look by ranking all the Star Trek movies by their box office earnings. First, we'll look at them without adjusting for inflation. Then we'll see how adjusting for inflation changes things, and after looking at both sets, we'll examine which movies were the most profitable based on their original cost.

Let's start with how all the Star Trek movies performed during their theatrical run. These numbers will not be adjusted, meaning they do not take inflation into account. To get the numbers, I looked at various databases, including Box Office Mojo and The Numbers, using each film's highest reported gross. Also note that these are worldwide gross, meaning they include both domestic and international ticket sales. That being said, it boils down to:

1. “Star Trek Into Darkness” – $467.3 million worldwide

2. “Star Trek” (2009) – $386.8 million worldwide

3. “Star Trek Beyond” – $335.6 million worldwide

4. “Star Trek: First Contact” – $150 million worldwide

5. “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” – $139 million worldwide

6. “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” – $133 million worldwide

7. “Star Trek Generations” – $120 million worldwide

8. “Star Trek: Insurrection” – $117.8 million worldwide

9. “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” – $96.9 million worldwide

10. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” – $95.8 million worldwide

11. “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” – $87 million worldwide

12. “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” – $70.2 million worldwide

13. “Star Trek: Nemesis” – $67.3 million worldwide

Star Trek Into Darkness, directed by JJ Abrams, took first place. Although “Into Darkness” had its problems (which Abrams has acknowledged)it was based on '09. 2018's reboot success, which came in at number two on the list and welcomed a new audience to the franchise. The success of this film is partly why studios are still interested in rebooting old properties. But by the time Star Trek Beyond arrived in 2016, we already saw the law of diminishing returns approaching the property.

It's interesting Star Trek: The Motion Picture ranks so high on the list despite being released in 1979when a movie ticket was much cheaper. This is an indication of how much of the event was sold in its time. It is also interesting that “The Final Frontier” and “Nemesis” ranked last. We see that as the cast of the Star Trek movie in question gets later, interest seems to wane. Then, when a new cast comes, the interest increases again.

Now we'll look at the box office performance of all the Star Trek movies, adjusted for inflation. To do this, I use US Inflation Calculator and entered each movie's original gross, noting the year it was released and calculating what it would mean in 2024. Keep in mind that these numbers will change all the time, so it's impossible to get a complete picture of inflation. -adjusted gross is This is just a snapshot of what it looks like now to give you a better idea of ​​how inflation changes things. That being said, it boils down to:

1. “Star Trek Into Darkness” – $632.8 million worldwide

2. “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” – $604 million worldwide

3. “Star Trek” (2009) – $568.8 million worldwide

4. “Star Trek Beyond” – $441.1 million worldwide

5. “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” – $382.8 million worldwide

6. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” – $313.2 million worldwide

7. “Star Trek: First Contact” – $301.6 million worldwide

8. “Star Trek Generations” – $255.4 million worldwide

9. “Star Trek: Insurrection” – $228 million worldwide

10. “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” – $224.4 million worldwide

11. “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” – $264.1 million worldwide

12. “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” – $178.6 million worldwide

13. “Star Trek: Nemesis” – $118 million worldwide

As we can see, “Into Darkness” still comes out on top. The biggest change, however, is that “The Motion Picture” movies all the way up to second place, getting a significant increase thanks to 35 years of inflation. What's really interesting is that whether we take inflation into account or not, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan is often considered the best Trek movie of all time. doesn't rank that high. It is a film that has grown in reputation over time. But as we'll get to, it's one of the best movies on this list in terms of overall value.

The other thing that stands out is that, whether adjusted for inflation or not, all of the Next Generation movies were moderately popular, more or less. with the highly acclaimed Star Trek: First Contact ranking as a true highlight. It was kind of downhill from there.

Before looking further into what these numbers tell us, it's important to examine the budgets of each Star Trek film. Cash is relative, and that's what really matters here. We'll take a look at each of the films and how much they cost to make (excluding marketing) and what that budget would be after adjusting for inflation. Here's how it shakes it up:

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture – $44 million unadjusted / $191 million adjusted

2. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” – $12 million unadjusted / $39 million adjusted

3. “Star Trek III: Quest for Ghosts” – $16 million unadjusted / $48 million adjusted

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – $24 million unadjusted / $69 million adjusted

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier – $30 million unadjusted / $76 million adjusted

6. “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” – $30 million unadjusted / $69 million adjusted

7. Star Trek Generations – $35 million unadjusted / $74 million adjusted

8. “Star Trek: First Contact” – $45 million unadjusted / $90 million adjusted

9. Star Trek: Rebellion – $70 million unadjusted / $135 million adjusted

10. “Star Trek: Nemesis” – $60 million unadjusted / $105 million adjusted

11. “Star Trek” (2009) – $140 million unadjusted/$205 million adjusted

12. “Star Trek Into Darkness” – $185 million unadjusted / $250 million adjusted

13. “Star Trek Beyond” – $185 million unadjusted / $243 million adjusted

As we can see, both “Into Darkness” and “Beyond” were incredibly expensive to make. The problem with “Star Trek Beyond” didn't do nearly as well at the box officeso it was classified as a bomb. It's also—at least in part—the reason why a fourth film with the Abrams cast never materialized as of this writing. Finances just didn't work out anymore.

“The Wrath of Khan” is also worth another look. As we can see, Paramount spent too much on “The Motion Picture”, which became extremely expensive at the time. The studio then wisely cut the budget for the sequel, which allowed the franchise to thrive for years. Therein lies perhaps the biggest lesson not only for the Star Trek movies, but for Hollywood as a whole.

Whether adjusted for inflation or not, we can see that “Star Trek” has a loyal audience. The catch is that the audience is only so big. None of these films have ever crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office. Not that such a milestone should be the threshold for success, but budgets in the $190 million range should only be reserved for the biggest blockbusters with large global audiences. For example, even a mixed film like The Rise of Skywalker made $1 billion over Star Wars. I'm not here to ignite a Trek vs. Wars argument, it's just to show that one has a larger theatrical audience.

Even “Star Trek Generations,” the franchise's biggest crossover event, was only a modest welcomet. Almost every time a Trek movie went over a certain budget, it was bad news for the movie. However, if we're looking at something like The Wrath of Khan or even First Contact, the value proposition is huge. Compared to their budgets, the films were very popular, even if they were by no means the highest grossing. But Paramount undoubtedly made a huge profit on those films that it didn't on Nemesis or Beyond. This is where the relativity of it all becomes extremely important, especially when it comes to the future.

Looking ahead, Paramount is working on several new ones “Star Trek” movies, including a prequel to be directed by Toby Haynes (“Black Mirror”). A fourth film featuring the Abrams cast also remains a possibility. Whatever the case, Paramount needs to budget these movies for existing audiences, not audiences wants to to exist Trekkies are loyal and will almost always be there, but the franchise also has its limitations.

You can pick up all the Star Trek movies in 4K, Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon..