Star Trek Director Stuck in Hollywood Jail After Box Office Bomb
Jonathan Frakes reveals how one catastrophic movie failure ended his film directing career despite previous successes with major studio pictures.
After directing three box office winners including Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Clockstoppers, Jonathan Frakes seemed unstoppable in Hollywood. His fourth directorial effort should have continued that winning streak. Instead, it destroyed his movie career entirely.
Speaking with Trek Movie, Frakes didn't mince words about what happened next: "I did three successful movies and one massively unsuccessful movie and have been in movie jail ever since."
That disaster was Thunderbirds, which earned just $28.3 mn against a $57 mn budget. The financial catastrophe effectively banned Frakes from directing major studio films.
The Thunderbirds Disaster That Ended Everything
Frakes opened up to Vulture about why Thunderbirds crashed so spectacularly. The problems started with casting, he admits.
"Frankly, the lead, Brady Corbet — who just directed his own movie, Vox Lux — he didn't want to be a superhero. That was really the bottom line. He was charming and he was wonderful, but he was in the wrong movie, and that was my fault. The movie was not ready to compete with Spider-Man and Shrek. It was cursed."
The 2004 science fiction adventure film was based on the classic 1960s TV series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Universal Pictures backed the 95-minute family movie starring Brady Corbet as Alan Tracy, with Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, Ben Kingsley, and a young Vanessa Hudgens in supporting roles.
The plot followed teenage sons of International Rescue as they secretly helped save their kidnapped father while stopping a global threat from villain The Hood, played by Kingsley.
When Thunderbirds bombed, nobody in Hollywood returned Frakes' calls. His reputation as a bankable director vanished overnight. "It was a wake-up for me. I had been so positive, and so blessed, and so fortunate," he reflected.
Television Became His Salvation
Frakes pivoted to television directing, where he found massive success. He's directed over 100 episodes across the Star Trek universe while continuing his acting role as William T. Riker.
His TV directing credits span multiple hit shows: nine episodes of Leverage plus Leverage: Redemption, ten episodes of The Librarians, five episodes of Burn Notice, six episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles, three Castle episodes, and work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Post-Next Generation Star Trek series became his specialty. Frakes directed acclaimed episodes of Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds that fans consider classics.
Despite the Thunderbirds setback, Frakes built a television directing career that spans decades. Maybe Hollywood will give him another shot at the big screen someday.