10 Actors Who Blamed Themselves For Films Failing
4. William Shatner - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was the first and only Star Trek film directed by none other than William Shatner himself, who of course also starred as Captain James T. Kirk.
Because Leonard Nimoy and Shatner were contractually obligated to receive the same treatment on any Star Trek projects, Shatner was given the opportunity to helm Star Trek V after Nimloy had directed the previous two films in the series to great success.
The Final Frontier's production was fraught with issues, from striking crew members to a stretched budget, a short timeframe to complete complex VFX, and plenty of executive meddling from Paramount.
Ultimately The Final Frontier was by far the worst-received Trek movie and also the lowest-grossing at the time, enough that it very nearly killed the franchise outright.
Though it's clear that exterior issues hindered Shatner's ability to complete a satisfactory film, he nevertheless held his hands up a few years ago and took the blame for not pushing back against his producers. In his book "Live Long And...: What I Learned Along the Way," he said:
"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."
Had Shatner pulled back, it's possible the executives and producers would've realised the true straits the picture was in and allowed the regroup necessary to fix the movie, or at least deliver a better end result.
Instead, Shatner's bullish desire to direct his own Star Trek movie ended up costing him and the franchise dearly.