Why wasn't there ever a ds9 movie?

[satchelmouth]

The best written trek series, with secondary characters who were greatly developed, not to mention the primary ones.

Did paramount have some kind of aversion to good writing? Would it not have been nice to see what happened after WYLB, although i've been getting into the relaunch novels which unlike most trek novels do not suck horribly (especially love a stitch in time, but then again i'm a garak-o-phile).

Really, I think if any incarnation of trek had the potential to get decent award nominations, it owuld be this one...oh well, no use dwelling on what might have been.

 

[Nightdiamond]

I would have liked to have seen them do the obvious thing- make a DS9 movie involving the Dominion war.

They were too interested in T.N.G trek at the time.

 

[thedude]

It'd be nice to see a follow-up DS9 mini-series or made for TV movie set maybe 5 or 10 years after What You Leave Behind, just to wrap things up. I think there was talk of this when UPN existed, but with syndication absolutely killing the last 3 seasons of DS9, I doubt it'll happen... however with the MASSIVE response to the new movie... I think ANYTHING Trek is possible right now.

 

[Michael]

Did paramount have some kind of aversion to good writing?

No, I guess they didn't, but they most certainly had a rather huge interest in making money with their productions. Which is pretty much the reason why we will most likely never see a Deep Space Nine movie. Don't get me wrong; I agree with you, it's one of the best (if not the best) Trek series. It's just that it wasn't really that much of a success.

They were too interested in T.N.G trek at the time.

And rightly so. Again, personally I have a higher regard for Deep Space Nine than for The Next Generation, but I think it's rather naive to expect them to make a movie out of a series that 'no-one' watched.

 

[Bones2]

DS9 wouldn't lend itself well to a movie. A film deserving of it would require much more knowledge of the show to enjoy it than does a TNG film, and so would be of much less appeal and not commercially viable.

To continue it as a TV series, on the other hand, would be perfect.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I just watched a DS9 episode that supposedly took place at the same time as "Insurrection" and it just left me wondering why the hell that movie didn't deal with the Dominion War. It could have been called "Star Trek: Dominion" and shown the Enterprise E's place in the war. It didn't even have to be a "crossover" with DS9, the characters could have just had cameos...maybe show the Enterprise crew stopping by at DS9 and interacting with some of the crew at the end, just to give it an ending with a nice feeling of 'family' and something for the fans too.

Maybe an onscreen Captain's log narration from Picard could bring the 'uninitiated' up to speed on DS9 and the war a little, so there isn't so much time wasted on exposition. The fact that Michael Piller, co-creator of DS9 wrote Insurrection just leaves me even more baffled as to why they didn't take advantage of this great story arc going on at the time instead of wasting a big screen Star Trek story on a rote, morally flimsy, and convoluted story.

 

[satchelmouth]

I just watched a DS9 episode that supposedly took place at the same time as "Insurrection" and it just left me wondering why the hell that movie didn't deal with the Dominion War. It could have been called "Star Trek: Dominion" and shown the Enterprise E's place in the war. It didn't even have to be a "crossover" with DS9, the characters could have just had cameos...maybe show the Enterprise crew stopping by at DS9 and interacting with some of the crew at the end, just to give it an ending with a nice feeling of 'family' and something for the fans too.

Maybe an onscreen Captain's log narration from Picard could bring the 'uninitiated' up to speed on DS9 and the war a little, so there isn't so much time wasted on exposition. The fact that Michael Piller, co-creator of DS9 wrote Insurrection just leaves me even more baffled as to why they didn't take advantage of this great story arc going on at the time instead of wasting a big screen Star Trek story on a rote, morally flimsy, and convoluted story.

Or why Starfleet would ally itself with a race that produces ketracel white, a drug whose only purpose is to keep the soldiers of their enemies in a time of war from rebelling against their own leaders!

 

[TheGodBen]

Why wasn't there ever a ds9 movie?

Because nobody watched the show.

I loved it, I think it was the best Trek series, but after the first season it never had great ratings and if they had based a movie on it nobody would have gone to see it. Besides, DS9 is a great show because it was allowed to grow in complexity in terms of story and characters, there is no way that complexity could have been translated into a two hour movie.

 

[od0_ital]

^

'No One' was watchin' because DS9 never had a chance to stand on its own.

When it premiered, TNG was still on. When TNG went off the air, DS9 ended its second season. Through the first half of the third season, all of Paramount's promotions were about GEN comin' to theaters, and the second half of the third season saw the premiere of VOY as the "flagship series for the new UPN!"

And nobody wants a a home video of their redheaded stepchild, so there will never be a DS9 movie.

Which, much as I would love to see the characters onscreen again, I'm okay with, 'cause of the post-finale novels.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Does anybody think there might have been more of a possibility of a movie, higher ratings, and just generally more popularity, respect, and support for DS9 if Voyager never existed? I'm starting to feel a little bitter towards Voyager due to the feeling that it sort of stole DS9's spotlight/thunder. Did Voyager kill DS9? Add to that the fact that I don't think the show is very good anyway, and I'm really not feeling the love for Voyager.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

From here.

I'm also glad they didn't try to make a movie of it in retrospect. TNG was never well served by the movies. It seemed like the writers forgot that one of the strengths of TNG was the ensemble cast and tried to force it into the mold of a starring actor or two and forgot everyone else. They would have done the same thing with DS9.

Seems like a good reason to me. I'd rather not have dilluted DS9. Already had dilluted TNG.

 

[Damask]

To be honest I think the Dominion Occupation arc is pretty much the DS9 movie. It's also something very unique for DS9 compared to the other Trek shows.

A DS9 movie I would have liked to see would have been about Bajor's entry to the Federation.

 

[robtclements]

The largest reason seems to have been the conflict between Rick Berman & Ira Behr. I gather that the cast was all contracted in case a film was made; but the minute WYLB was wrapped, Paramount could rip the stages down fast enough. It didn't help, of course, that DS9 had the reputation of being the best show no-one ever saw; & that even the TNG films were struggling in a multiplex environment dominated by dumb films with unlikable stars

 

[Jono]

I agree with the people who said that money was the major reason. Paramount didn't seem interested in anything but feature film and given DS9's poor(er) ratings then TNG they wouldn't have seen it as a good business decision. I think if they were more open to the idea of a straight to DVD/VHS movie DS9 would have had a much greater chance.

I think that the DS9 movie would have probably made Nemesis look like Titanic in the box officer, that not saying it would be a bad movie, I just don't think people would have really cared enough to go see it.

 

[thedude]

Does anybody think there might have been more of a possibility of a movie, higher ratings, and just generally more popularity, respect, and support for DS9 if Voyager never existed? I'm starting to feel a little bitter towards Voyager due to the feeling that it sort of stole DS9's spotlight/thunder. Did Voyager kill DS9? Add to that the fact that I don't think the show is very good anyway, and I'm really not feeling the love for Voyager.

I wouldn't say that Voyager killed DS9... I think syndication killed DS9. In my local area (Chicago, in case you were curious) DS9 was aired on WPWR ch. 50 (cable channel 8). It started as a Thursday program at like 7 pm... that last about a season... then they moved it to Friday nights at like 8... again, about a season (and I was still watching it!). Then they moved it to like Saturday at 10 pm, which is about when I stopped watching. Finally, they put the nail in the coffin around season 5, and stuck it at like 3 am on Sunday's. Keep in mind this before DVR's and TiVo existed... I used to set my VCR to record them, but I just stopped watching.

Even with the last few seasons airing on some UPN networks (UPN was only in about 5 major markets at launch) the show was pretty much still in syndication and nobody really cared anymore. Voyager had already been announced, and was heavily publicized everywhere.

So really, if anything killed DS9, it was the fact network were gearing up for the UPN launch, and didn't really want to continue pumping money and time slots into a brand which was being replaced... it's like getting an oil change, new tires, and a detail job on the way to the dealership to sell your car... there's just no point.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Does anybody think there might have been more of a possibility of a movie, higher ratings, and just generally more popularity, respect, and support for DS9 if Voyager never existed? I'm starting to feel a little bitter towards Voyager due to the feeling that it sort of stole DS9's spotlight/thunder. Did Voyager kill DS9? Add to that the fact that I don't think the show is very good anyway, and I'm really not feeling the love for Voyager.

I wouldn't say that Voyager killed DS9... I think syndication killed DS9. In my local area (Chicago, in case you were curious) DS9 was aired on WPWR ch. 50 (cable channel 8). It started as a Thursday program at like 7 pm... that last about a season... then they moved it to Friday nights at like 8... again, about a season (and I was still watching it!). Then they moved it to like Saturday at 10 pm, which is about when I stopped watching. Finally, they put the nail in the coffin around season 5, and stuck it at like 3 am on Sunday's. Keep in mind this before DVR's and TiVo existed... I used to set my VCR to record them, but I just stopped watching.

Even with the last few seasons airing on some UPN networks (UPN was only in about 5 major markets at launch) the show was pretty much still in syndication and nobody really cared anymore. Voyager had already been announced, and was heavily publicized everywhere.

So really, if anything killed DS9, it was the fact network were gearing up for the UPN launch, and didn't really want to continue pumping money and time slots into a brand which was being replaced... it's like getting an oil change, new tires, and a detail job on the way to the dealership to sell your car... there's just no point.

A combination of these things: DS9 getting the B-timeslots, Voyager premiering, and TNG still being hugely popular. I seem to remember TNG continued to get better timeslots after the series was over, while new DS9 eps came on later, and later still.
I think TNG's overall popularity was probably a bigger factor than VOY. And ultimately, Nemesis quashed whatever further crossover possibilities we might have had.

 

[TedShatner10]

I think UPN nobbled Voyager and Enterprise as badly as DS9 being given the brown end of the stick in terms of syndication and publicity, in the failure and cutthroat prone American market at least.

And by the mid to late 90s it was clear Michael Pillar was beginning to creatively dry up and was conservative like Rick Berman. "Yesterday's Enterprise" was long behind him when he did Nemesis and there were warning signs in the opening season of DS9 (with "Run Along Home" as similarily as bad "Threshold" or a typical S1 episode in TNG).

 

[Navaros]

Did paramount have some kind of aversion to good writing?

Absolutely they do. Case in point: Abrams' Trek.

I have no doubt that DS9 could have been both the best, and most financially successful Trek movie. All they had to do was bring back the Dominion for round II of the War and market it as a LOTR-esque epic, and put the same dollars behind promoting it as they did with the Abrams Trek.

Everyone loves a great epic space movie, and DS9 has the perfect setting for that already established. But Paramount squandered that potential.

 

[arasam22]

i just found something on the memory alpha wiki that explains a lot:

"Whereas both the previous live-action television series had open endings that allowed for continuation into motion picture format, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended quite firmly and conclusively, with all its various plot lines resolved and the departure of various main characters. Any subsequent film would therefore have required a significantly different premise and different casting, departing radically from the series' format which had been so familiar to its fan base. On the possibility of a Star Trek: Deep Space Ninefilm ever happening, Ira Steven Behr commented: 'I don't think so. I think we could do a pretty kick-ass Deep Space Nine movie, but not even in my wildest imaginations do I consider it'. He also commented 'The only Trek I think about is Deep Space Nine, to be honest. If they did a Deep Space Nine film, I certainly would like to be involved if that ever happened, which I doubt'."

there's more here.

 

[RyuRoots]

I have no doubt that DS9 could have been both the best, and most financially successful Trek movie. All they had to do was bring back the Dominion for round II of the War and market it as a LOTR-esque epic, and put the same dollars behind promoting it as they did with the Abrams Trek.

Everyone loves a great epic space movie, and DS9 has the perfect setting for that already established. But Paramount squandered that potential.

The best? Possibly. Most financially successful? Unlikely. As has been repeatedly pointed out, TNG just was more popular (I don't agree with it, and I think DS9 was the better show, but the facts are that TNG got better ratings and was a bigger moneymaker) and I'm not sure that a DS9 film could have topped FC from a purely money-related perspective.

On a personal note...just bringing back the Dominion?
"Star Trek: The Dominion War...uh....again!"