10 Famous Actors Who Tried To Direct Movies (And Failed)

7. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - William Shatner

After Leonard Nimoy's Spock was killed off in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Nimoy agreed to resurrect the character in the next sequel but also wanted to direct the movie. Nimoy ended up directing both Star Trek III and the even more popular Star Trek IV. It was no surprise that Nimoy's counterpart William Shatner also wanted to direct a Star Trek movie. To help settle a contract dispute, Shatner was given his chance with 1989's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. However, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry hated Shatner's story ideas as did several members of the cast (including Nimoy), and the script required extensive rewrites that were rushed to beat an impending writers' strike. The budget was also too low to create several expensive effects sequences Shatner wanted. Of the first six Star Trek movies, Shatner's Star Trek V ended up being not only the worst regarded by critics and fans (with a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but also the lowest grossing. It later won the Razzie Award for Worst Picture, and the overall response was so bad that Paramount briefly considered rebooting the series, something the studio would not resort to for another two decades. Though Shatner has gone on to direct several TV movies and documentaries, the only other feature he directed was 2002's Groom Lake, a disastrous low-budget and little-seen sci-fi movie that likely ensures that Shatner will never direct a movie again.