Star Trek Actor Says Franchise Is ‘Dying’ Without New Fans

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There’s no denying that Star Trek: Section 31 left a bad taste in the mouths of many die-hard Trekkies thanks to what they feel was a film filled with weak characters and an even weaker plot that didn’t seem like a Star Trek movie. However, actor Rob Kazinsky says the film wasn’t made for the hardcore fan base, and that if the franchise is to continue into the future, you have to try and make “different flavors” that will appeal to everyone to prevent it from “dying.”

Kazinsky – who portrayed Zeph in Section 31 – recently appeared on the TrekCulture podcast to discuss his love of Star Trek, and his role in the new movie, which was unfortunately panned by critics and fans. Produced by longtime Trek collaborator Alex Kurtzman, Kazinsky revealed a candid conversation he had with the producer and Section 31 director Olatunde Osunsanmi about why the franchise is “dying.” What it boils down to, he said, is that the series isn’t bringing in new fans:

“I spoke to Alex and I spoke to director Olatunde Osunsanmi and they explained to me that Star Trek is dying. And I don’t know if people know that, but … I was talking about Star Trek at my gym where I fight, you know, I’m a boxer and I fight with a lot of kids — I don’t fight them but, you know, train with them — [and] none of them knew what Star Trek was. Can you imagine that? I mean, just conceive of that for a second, that they had never … I would say Star Trek and they were like, Star Wars? I was like, ‘No, Star Trek,’ and they were like, ‘Um I think I’ve heard of it.'”

“They explained to me very, very clearly, and once I’d heard this, I was 100% behind this movie: You have to make different flavors of Star Trek for a different time.” Kazinsky continued, offering his take on why the franchise has to boldly go where it hasn’t gone before if it hopes to survive. “You have to try and bring in new people. That’s what Section 31‘s about. This film, and I’m sorry to say it, it wasn’t made for people that love Star Trek. It was made to make people want to learn more about Star Trek.”

Rob Kazinsky Says ‘Star Trek’s Fan Base Has Never Been “Enormous”

One of the keys to any successful film franchise these days is the fan base that will shout from the rooftops when a new entry is released, enticing hesitant viewers to check it out and potentially fall in love with what filmmakers have to offer. It’s the complete opposite of Star Trek, but look at Damien Leone’s Terrifier for example. Its grassroots campaign propelled by the fans helped catapult Terrifier 3 to a level of success no one could have imagined, and now? The franchise has a ton of new fans who will undoubtedly help make Terrifier 4 even bigger.

It appears that Star Trek doesn’t have a massive fan base, despite Kazinsky stating that it has always had a devoted following. He explained this by saying the number of fans hasn’t been particularly large.

“It’s always been a small and incredibly passionate group. It’s never compared to the Harry Potter fan groups or the Star Wars fan groups. It’s never had hundreds of millions of fans around the world. It’s always been a dedicated group, and that dedicated group is aging. We are going to lose Star Trek if we don’t bring in new fans, new eyes, and new ways of getting people to love the things we love.”

Sadly, the loudest of Star Trek (and Star Wars) fans these days seem to be more interested in complaining online about the things they don’t love instead of hyping up the things they do. To anyone outside those fandoms, it feels like a toxic environment and, really, who wants to get involved in that? Yes, the fault does lie in part at the feet of the filmmakers, but until the two groups of consumer and supplier can find a way to co-exist to bring in new fans, it doesn’t appear as if anything is going to change in the near future. Can a franchise like Star Trek survive in that ecosystem? Only time will tell.

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2025-03-18 21:17