20 Things You Never Knew About Star Trek: Insurrection
7. The S'ona Were A Calculated Attempt To Reach A Younger Demographic
The S'ona (renamed from an earlier version that saw them called the S'oni), appear in the film as the main villains. The first draft had featured the Romulans, who at that time had not yet appeared in the movie franchise as a primary antagonist. However, the producers went cold on them, with these new 'younger' villains taking their place.
The S'ona were hedonistic and loved life. A cut line from the script described them as loving wine, women, and song. However, their obsession with enjoyment and the lost youth on the Ba'ku planet led them to experiment with de-aging. The skin stretching techniques were deliberate nods to plastic surgery culture of the time.
Ironically, this meant that the filmmakers could cast younger actors and age them, which in turn (they believed) would attract younger audiences to the film. It had a varying level of success. The film did well in its initial weekend, but dropped off quickly after that.