Summary

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a box office success, starting a franchise that has seen ups and downs but continues to thrill fans.
• Star Trek films featuring the original cast and Captain Picard were generally well-received, but Star Trek: Nemesis is regarded as a flop.
• J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot was a critical and commercial success, introducing a new generation to the franchise and inspiring the visual style of later TV series.

Although Star Trek began as a television franchise and has produced far more television than films, thirteen Star Trek films hit the big screen since the end of Star Trek: The Original Series. After the syndication success of TOS, Paramount had plans for another Star Trek television project, titled Star Trek: Phase II. However, after the successes of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Paramount saw the opportunity to achieve box office success with a Star Trek feature. Ideas from Phase II were reworked into a film script, which went through many revisions and changes before becoming the story told in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a success at the box office, and five more Star Trek films were made with the original cast of TOS. These would be followed by four films featuring Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation before Star Trek: Nemesis ended an era of Trek films in 2002 with a rather lackluster finish. J.J. Abrams would resurrect the movie franchise in 2009, with new faces playing familiar characters in a new Star Trek timeline. The saga of Star Trek at the box office has been filled with ups and downs, but it's always a thrill for Star Trek fans to see their favorite characters on the big screen. Here is what all 13 Star Trek movies made at the box office.

13 Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Regarded as the worst Star Trek: The Next Generation film, it's not particularly surprising that Star Trek: Nemesis made the least amount of money at the box office. Nemesis grossed $43,254,409 in the United States, but its budget was about $60 million. Although Nemesis made up the difference with its international gross, the film is still considered a box office flop. Even many of the TNG cast members regard it as a lackluster finish for the franchise (at the time), and it stands at just 38% on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Thankfully, subsequent Star Trek series like Star Trek: Picard have fixed some of the problems from Nemesis.

12 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

With only 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is the worst-reviewed Star Trek film to date and made the least money out of all of the films featuring Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Star Trek V introduces Spock's half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) and takes the USS Enterprise on a journey to the center of the galaxy. Grossing $52,210,049 domestically, Star Trek V was directed by William Shatner from a story he conceptualized. Although Sybok is a fascinating character, the disparate plots of the film never come together to create a cohesive story.

11 Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

In a quieter Star Trek story after the action-packed Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection finds Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D mingling with the peaceful Ba'ku people of the Fountain of Youth-like Briar Patch. When Picard and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) uncover a plot to remove the Ba'ku people from their home planet, they defy Federation officials to do the right thing. Insurrection was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend and ultimately grossed $70,187,658 domestically. The film received mixed reviews and stands at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many comparing the film to an extended episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

10 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

The final film to feature the full cast of TOS, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country received significantly better reviews than its predecessor, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Star Trek VI brings back the Klingons as they attempt to negotiate for peace with the Federation after their moon Praxis is destroyed in a mining accident. When Captain Kirk and the Enterprise are sent to host the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner), an insidious group of Klingon, Romulan, and Federation conspirators assassinate the Chancellor and frame Kirk to sabotage the peace talks. Star Trek VI did well at the box office, grossing $74,888,996 domestically, and holds an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

9 Star Trek Generations (1994)

Starring both William Shatner's Captain Kirk and Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard, Star Trek Generations acted as a passing of the torch from one Enterprise Captain to another. As the first film to feature the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Generations unsurprisingly had a big opening weekend at the box office. However, it received mixed reviews from audiences and critics, with some questioning its ability to be enjoyed by a casual viewer. Notable for killing Captain Kirk and destroying the USS Enterprise-D, Generations scored 48% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $75,671,125 domestically.

8 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

The third Star Trek film and Leonard Nimoy's film-directing debut, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock follows up on the story of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. After Captain Kirk learns that Spock could potentially be resurrected, he sets out to do just that, with the help of the Enterprise crew. Nimoy was also the first Star Trek actor to turn director, but certainly not the last. The Search for Spock features the now-common Star Trek plot of Kirk and his crew stealing the Enterprise in order to rescue Spock before the iconic starship is ultimately destroyed as part of the film's climax. The Search for Spock grossed $76,471,046 at the domestic box office and has a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes.

7 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Commonly cited by Trekkers as the best of the Star Trek films, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan features some of Star Trek's most iconic moments and revitalized the franchise after the lackluster response to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Wrath of Khan follows up on a plot thread from the TOS episode "Space Seed," which introduced Ricardo Montalbán's genetically engineered tyrant, Khan Noonien Singh. Khan returns for revenge on Captain Kirk, and the film concludes with the tragic death of Mr. Spock (a trope that would be repeated in two other Star Trek movies). With an 87% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Wrath of Khan grossed $78,912,963 domestically.

6 Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

As the first entry for the Star Trek franchise to grace the big screen, it's not surprising that Star Trek: The Motion Picture did well at the box office. Although the film received mediocre reviews and currently sits at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, fans at the time were undoubtedly excited to see a feature-length Star Trek story. The plot follows Admiral James T. Kirk and his crew on the newly refitted USS Enterprise as they investigate a strange and powerful entity called V'Ger. At the time of its release, Star Trek: The Motion Picture set a box office record for the highest opening weekend gross and ultimately made $82,258,456 domestically.

5 Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Trek: First Contact brought back the Borg for another confrontation with Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who takes on the role of an action-movie hero, traveling back in time to prevent the Borg from altering the future. Widely loved as the best of the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, First Contact was a critical and commercial success, earning 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing $92,027,888 at the domestic box office. The directorial debut of Jonathan Frakes, First Contact introduced several important elements to the Star Trek franchise, many of which would be revisited years later in Star Trek: Picard.

4 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

In perhaps the most fun of the Star Trek movies, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is commonly referred to as "the one with the whales." Admiral Kirk and his crew must travel back in time to 1986 San Francisco in order to bring a pair of humpback whales back to save 23rd century Earth. After the success of Star Trek III, Leonard Nimoy was asked to return to the director's chair, and he was given more creative freedom. The popular Star Trek IV was a box office success, grossing $109,713,132 at the domestic box office, and it stood as the highest-grossing Star Trek movie for 23 years until the J.J. Abrams films supplanted it. Star Trek IV has a score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many praising its sense of humor and broad audience appeal.

3 Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Star Trek Beyond is the third and last (so far) of the J.J. Abrams-produced Kelvin timeline movies, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the Enterprise crew battle Krall, a mutated former Earth soldier with a grudge against the Federation. With its humor, quintessential Star Trek plot, and compelling new characters, the Justin Lin-diected Beyond feels the most like classic Star Trek of the Abrams trilogy, Despite receiving mostly positive reviews, the film relatively underperformed at the box office, grossing $158,848,340 domestically, a significant decrease from its predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness. Rated at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, Beyond is the third best-reviewed Star Trek film. A fourth Star Trek film with the same cast has been in some form of development since 2016, but little new information has emerged.

2 Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

After the success of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek in 2009, Star Trek Into Darkness had a lot to live up to. Star Trek Into Darkness pits the Kelvin Timeline's Captain Kirk against Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) while the corrupt Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) schemed to militarize Starfleet and provoke the Klingons into a war. Although Star Trek Into Darkness received mostly praise from critics and stands at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, many Star Trek fans disliked the film for the way it retold the story from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Still, the controversial Star Trek Into Darkness stands as the second highest-grossing Star Trek film at the domestic box office, grossing $228,778,661.

1 Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek (2009) currently has the highest domestic gross of any Star Trek movie, at $257,730,019, and the highest score on Rotten Tomatoes at 94%. Star Trek (2009) follows a young James T. Kirk, Spock, and Lt. Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldaña) as they face off against a Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana) who traveled from the future. So that the film would not be beholden to established Star Trek continuity, Star Trek (2009) introduced the Kelvin timeline, which had been created because of Nero's time travel. J.J. Abrams's visually spectacular and propulsive reboot successfully introduced an entirely new generation of fans to the Star Trek franchise and reinvigorated interest in the voyagers of the Starship Enterprise. Star Trek (2009) also inspired the cinematic style and visual effects upgrade of Paramount+'s Star Trek TV series.