10 Reasons To Stop Hating Star Trek: Nemesis
2. Blame It On The Box Office
Even over the years, the critical response to Star Trek: Nemesis hasn't become any more favourable. It is still spoiled fruit (/vegetable) on that one website, with only 38% to work with. Even the best of films have 'bombed' at the Box Office, only to garner praise later down the line. Whilst this is never going to be the case for Nemesis, it is still worthwhile taking a look at some of the reasons for its box office failure that might temper the ill-will surrounding that little franchise hiatus.
In its theatrical run, according to Box Office Mojo, Nemesis made a domestic US gross of $43,254,409 and an international gross of $24,082,061 on a budget of $60,000,000. This makes it the worst performing Star Trek film of them all, and it ultimately turned in a loss for Paramount. Its US opening weekend was so catastrophic that it was even beaten by Jennifer Lopez's Maid in Manhattan (also with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 38%). Any plans for a follow-up film aboard the Titan were definitively scrapped.
If you look more closely, however, you see that Nemesis was up against juggernauts the likes of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Die Another Day. It also opened in far fewer cinemas than J.Lo's offering.
According to TrekMovie, very little was spent on marketing and ads for Nemesis in the US – for a smattering of action figures, trading cards, Del Taco, and Safeway (remember them in the UK?) promotions, and a novelisation. The film was not even advertised in most US retail stores. It is perhaps little wonder, therefore, that the box office performance was so poor.