13 Awesome Movies That Only Happened Because Of Awful Flops

12. Star Trek...Because Star Trek: Nemesis Bombed

The Awesome Movie: Against the odds and with millions of Trekkies breathing down his neck, J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek franchise for a new generation, retaining enough of the soul of the original TV series but giving it a flashy contemporary update which brought the property an entire new generation of fans. Rebooting the continuity with a deliciously clever alternate timeline get-out clause, Star Trek was respectful to the fanboys while refusing to exclude the newbies. How It Got Made: In 2002, the 10th Star Trek movie, Nemesis, was the last to feature the cast of The Next Generation after it bombed with both critics (37%) and audiences (just barely making its $60 million budget back). Initially there were plans to make one final TNG movie, but with Nemesis' failure, this idea was scuppered, and Star Trek was temporarily retired after Paramount believed that audiences were fatigued with the franchise. After several years of trying to get a reboot moving, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were finally brought aboard to write it, and Paramount scored the major coup that was securing Abrams' involvement.