In 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture saw its national and international release. By then, Roddenberry’s brainchild had exploded in popularity the world over. Shatner said the franchise’s meteoric success had never been anticipated.
“The concept of making more Star Treks in terms of movies occurred. And each movie, they thought that was the last one. So nobody had any idea of the residual popularity that occurred,” he said.
Five more Star Trek films followed with the original crew. But Star Trek had already spawned different TV incarnations and soon-to-come films with a new cast.
Still, throughout the years, millions of fans stayed true to the original show and cast and were delighted when filmmaker and producer J.J. Abrams rebooted the original characters in the 2009 visual extravaganza, Star Trek. Abrams kept close to Roddenberry’s ideas, and the casting of Chris Pine as Kirk was reminiscent of Shatner’s personality.