S tar Trek: The Motion Picture is science fiction’s ultimate Rorschach test. Some Trekkies regard the saga’s big-screen debut, which marks its 40th anniversary this week, as a morose mess and lumbering betrayal of everything the zippy and optimistic TV original stood for. Others see it as a brave but flawed attempt to bring Kubrickian depth to the adventures of Captain Kirk and Mr Spock. A tiny minority of us regard it as a misunderstood masterpiece.

What everyone agrees is that it was a miracle the film reached cinemas on 7 December 1979 in the first place. Beneath those swooping Starship Enterprise contours, the undertaking had been a roiling mess. Egos, in-fighting, a director who didn’t care for Star Trek, a cast that cared too much – together it conjured a perfect intergalactic storm.

The biggest impediment of all was the huge ticking clock looming just off-camera. Paramount Pictures had rushed The Motion Picture into production in the spring of 1978. The hope was to cash in on the sudden and, as the industry saw it, baffling, popularity of epic space operas. Come hell, high-water or Klingon invasion, Star Trek was to have a piece of the interplanetary pie. Nothing mattered beyond TMP making its Christmas 1979 deadline.

“I don’t care if the story doesn’t make sense, I don’t care if it cuts together,” Paramount chief executive Barry Diller had told his board months before the scheduled release date as it became clear the film might well arrive as an incoherent shambles. “We’re delivering this movie. Period.”

Star Wars had in 1977 recast the box office in its own image. With X-wing contrails streaking the sky, Paramount was rushing to catch up. Of course, it already had a ready-made Star Wars of its own.

27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Show all 27 1 /27 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Annie Hall (1977) Original title: Anhedonia Annie Hall began life as Anhedonia, which is the scientific term for the inability to experience pleasure. But the title Annie Hall was eventually settled on, inspired by actress Diane Keaton's real name, Diane Hall, and her nickname, Annie. United Artists 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Dynasty (1981-89) Original title: Oil The hit series, which revolves around the family of an oil magnate, was originally supposed to be titled… wait for it… Oil. But it was then changed to Dynasty to compete with rival soap Dallas. CBS Television Distribution 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Back to the Future (1985) Original title: Spaceman from Pluto Steven Spielberg genuinely thought the title Spaceman from Pluto was a joke suggestion, so it didn’t last long, and was soon replaced by the now iconic name Back to the Future. He contacted the Universal Studios head Sid Sheinberg who had suggested the Pluto title, with a message thanking him for sending his wonderful "joke" name, saying the office "got a kick out of it". Ouch. Universal Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title The Breakfast Club (1985) Original title: The Lunch Bunch The original script for this classic high-school movie went by the very naff name The Lunch Bunch, but thanks to the son of one of director John Hughes's friends, who had a school detention class called The Breakfast Club, the title was changed. Universal Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Fatal Attraction (1987) Original title: Affairs of the Heart The much friendlier sounding Affairs of the Heart wasn’t a great match for the psychological thriller that brought us the bunny boiler, and after it received a poor reception from audiences, the film’s title was changed to Fatal Attraction. Paramount Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Licence to Kill (1989) Original title: Licence Revoked This Bond film was, at one time, called Licence Revoked, but test audiences associated the title too much with driving, so thankfully it was changed to something far punchier. United Artists 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Saved by the Bell (1989-93) Original title: Good Morning, Miss Bliss NBC’s Good Morning Miss Bliss centred on Hayley Mills as the eponymous teacher but, after the comedy briefly moved to the Disney Channel and then back to NBC, it was re-tooled to focus on the teenage students instead, therefore taking on a new name: Saved By The Bell. CBS Studios International 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Goodfellas (1990) Original title: Wiseguy The Scorsese classic is an adaptation of a mobster novel called Wiseguy, which was originally also the title of the film, but the name had to be changed because it had already been taken for an 80s TV series. Warner Bros 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Pretty Woman (1990) Original title: 3000 Originally a dark drama about class and sex work, Pretty Woman’s first title was 3,000 – the amount of money that Richard Gere's character Edward spends on a week of Vivian's (Julia Roberts) time. Disney changed the name as it came across as “too science-fictiony”, as well as the tone of the movie which was turned into a rom-com fairytale. Buena Vista Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Friends (1994-2004) Original title: Six of One The beloved sitcom went through many different name changes, with all the following titles considered: Friends Like Us, Six of One, Across the Hall, Once Upon a Time in the West Village, and Insomnia Cafe. It’s now hard to imagine the show becoming such a monumental hit with any of those names. Warner Bros Television Distribution 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Pulp Fiction (1994) Original title: Black Mask Pulp Fiction was initially inspired by the detective crime stories in the seminal magazine Black Mask, hence its first name. The publication was a pulp magazine, which goes some way to explaining the new title. Miramax Films 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Titanic (1997) Original title: The Ship of Dreams In a line from the classic 1997 film, the older version of Rose says: "Titanic was called the ship of dreams, and it was, it really was." It was also the original title of the film, before the simpler name of Titanic was chosen. 20th Century Fox 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title That '70s Show (1998-2006) Original title: Teenage Wasteland Early ideas for the 70s sitcom’s name included Teenage Wasteland and The Kids Are Alright, but because the creators couldn’t get song title rights from The Who, they were forced to change the name of the show. Carsey-Werner Distribution 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title American Pie (1999) Original title: Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Your Reader Will Love But the Executive Will Hate It was a bold move from screenwriter Adam Herz when he submitted his spec script to studios under the title Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Your Reader Will Love But The Executive Will Hate. But the risk paid off, with the film, eventually named American Pie, grossing nearly a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide. Universal Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) Original title: Dairy Queens The black comedy was originally supposed to be called Dairy Queens. However, the company that owns fast food chain Dairy Queen apparently didn't love the idea of being associated with the movie, so they filed a lawsuit and, lo and behold, Drop Dead Gorgeous was born. New Line Cinema 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title 8 Simple Rules (2002-03) Original title: 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter This family sitcom originally had a longer name, but when star John Ritter – who played the concerned father in the show – suddenly died after filming the third episode of the second series, the show changed its format and name to 8 Simple Rules and Ritter’s death was written into the plot. Buena Vista International Television 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Cars (2006) Original title: Route 66 The animated hit was initially called Route 66 after the iconic road in America, but the title was changed to Cars to avoid confusion with a 60s TV show of the same name. Buena Vista Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Hannah Montana (2006-11) Original title: Alexis Texas Miley Cyrus’s Disney comedy was originally called Alexis Texas but, because a porn actor shares the same name, it had to be changed in case children looked up the show’s title and accidentally found pornography. Disney-ABC Domestic Television 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title The Big Bang Theory (2007-19) Original title: Lenny, Penny and Kenny The Big Bang Theory’s original rhyming title was forced to change after the character Kenny’s name switched to Sheldon, who was then brought to life by Jim Parsons. Warner Bros Television Distribution 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Samantha Who? (2007-09) Original title: Sam I Am Clearance issues with the estate of Dr Seuss led ABC to change the name of its Christina Applegate-led show, as the original title, Sam I Am, drew on the first lines of Dr Seuss’s classic Green Eggs and Ham. Disney – ABC Domestic Television 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title The Good Wife (2009-16) Original title: Leave the Bastard The Good Wife’s creators got a call from CBS pushing them to change the title just as it went into production. The network did actually consider Leave the Bastard, but ultimately decided to play it safe with The Good Wife. CBS Television Distribution 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Shutter Island (2010) Original title: Ashecliffe Ashecliffe, the name of the hospital in Martin Scorcese’s thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was originally going to be the film’s title before it was changed to Shutter Island. Paramount Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title New Girl (2011-18) Original title: Chicks and Dicks New Girl was initially pitched as "a young ensemble comedy about the sexual politics of men and women”, hence its original, provocative title: Chicks and Dicks. 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Warner Bros Pictures 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Lovesick (2014-18) Original title: Scrotal Recall The relationship comedy drama starring Johnny Flynn was renamed after one series because, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was suffering from a lack of word of mouth, with people reluctant to say the word “scrotal”. Clerkenwell Films 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Stranger Things (2016-) Original title: Montauk The original title of the Netflix hit was Montauk, as the plan had been for it to be set in a village of the same name in New York. However, when creators the Duffer brothers later relocated the show’s action to the fictional town of Hawkins in Indiana, the name changed to Stranger Things. Intriguingly, Montauk also happens to be the title of a short film which the Duffer brothers were accused of plagiarising. Netflix 27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Arrival (2017) Original title: Story of Your Life The sci-fi film starring Amy Adams originally went by the title of the novella it was based on, Story of Your Life, but because producer Shawn Levy thought it "sounds a bit like a One Direction song” and "multiword titles can be really problematic”, the movie changed its name to Arrival. Paramount Pictures

Star Trek had, since its cancellation in 1969, gone on to achieve a cult fanbase thanks to endless repeats. Prior to George Lucas’s Jedi juggernaut, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had struggled for years to revitalise his franchise. And in the face of Roddenberry’s lobbying, Paramount eventually relented, with Diller suggesting a new series, to be titled Star Trek: Phase II.

Later, it was decided to bump this up to a one-off movie with a low-ball budget of around $3m (quite a turnabout as Paramount had initially vetoed Roddenberry’s suggestion of a film, insisting instead on a return to TV). Then Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader unleashed their death-ray upon cinema.

“Star Wars woke them up to the fact that these things I’d been telling them for a number of years were true,” observed Roddenberry. “There was an audience for millions of people out there who are interested [in space opera].”

Paramount was determined Star Trek serve up a spectacle no less jaw-dropping than that delivered by Star Wars. So it parachuted in hotshot young executive Jeffrey Katzenberg (later to found DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen). His first challenge – the one on which the rest of the endeavour depended – was convincing Leonard Nimoy, aka Spock, to sign on.

“To relaunch Star Trek without Leonard Nimoy is to buy a car and not have wheels,” Katzenberg would reflect. “It just seemed impossible... Illogical.”

But it seemed perfectly logical to Nimoy, the only original cast member to have turned down the opportunity to star in Roddenberry’s Phase II. As a serious actor, he was dismayed to have become synonymous through the Seventies with his pointed-eared alter-ego. And he had simmering beef against Paramount, which had, without his permission, plastered his likeness all over its lucrative Star Trek merchandising.

Katzenberg was determined get his Vulcan, though. So he flew from Los Angeles to New York where Nimoy was appearing in a Broadway run of Equus. He materialised backstage one night as Nimoy was preparing to go on. Flattered that so powerful an executive had travelled cross country, Nimoy agreed to meet for coffee.

Nimoy was in the process of suing Paramount for what he believed to be his fair share of the Spock merch revenue. Katzenberg suggested that he proceed with the lawsuit but also come back into the Trek family. Nimoy put his cup down firmly. “I just can’t do that I’m sorry.”

Money in the end talked. Katzenberg told Diller to swallow his pride and open his cheque book. With the studio prepare to settle, Nimoy realised he had no choice.

He wasn’t especially thrilled to go back to Star Trek. Yet, if he continued holding out, he would be painted in the press as the villain who had crushed the dreams of an entire generation of Trekkies (or Trekkers – as some Trekkies preferred to be called). Every time he went out to promote a new project one subject would inevitably come up: why did you say no to Star Trek?

“How could I answer those questions?” he said later. “I didn’t like the script? I hated Gene? I was angry at the studio? I would be carrying that negative s*** around with me for the next five years at least.”

With Nimoy signed on, Paramount now had a full flush of stars. William Shatner had been eager to reprise the part of Captain James Tiberius Kirk (his once luxuriant quiff replaced with what looked suspiciously like a brillo-pad hairpiece). DeForest Kelley was back, too, as Doctor Leonard McCoy, while fans would have the opportunity to reconnect with communications officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), helmsman Sulu (George Takei), Lieutenant Commander Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Chief Engineer Scott (James Doohan).

Leonard Nimoy as Spock in ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ (Rex Features)

The March 1978 press conference announcing the return of the original cast was the largest Paramount had held since Cecil B DeMille revealed he was making The Ten Commandments. It was intended as the first salvo in an open-ended charm offensive.

Long before internet-fuelled fandom, Paramount was aware that Star Trek had a huge and demanding following. A 1976 letter-writing campaign had persuaded Nasa to rename its first Space Shuttle “Enterprise”. Star Trek devotees possessed clout and were keeping a close watch on The Motion Picture.

They will have noted that Paramount was determined to expand beyond the parameters of the original series. Joining the old hands was newcomer Stephen Collins, playing preppy Captain Willard Decker (Collins’s career would end in disgrace after he admitted to “inappropriate sexual conduct with three female minors”). The cast was rounded off by Indian supermodel Persis Khambatta as Ilia. Her character was a Starfleet navigator belonging to the hairless Deltan race, who becomes possessed by a destructive alien entity – V’ger – which threatens all life on earth.

As for the director, Paramount chose 64-year-old Robert Wise, the studio veteran who oversaw The Sound of Music and West Side Story. He had sci-fi (and sci-fi adjacent) credibility, having directed black and white classic The Day the Earth Stood Still and the tense Run Silent, Run Deep.

What he hadn’t done was watch an entire episode of Star Trek. The little he had seen he actively disliked. Still a gig was a gig and he agreed to park himself in the captain’s seat. It became quickly clear, though that he regarded this as simply another pay cheque, rather than an opportunity to immortalise Kirk and the gang on the big screen.

“Robert was a kind of strange choice for director,” observed Richard Taylor, the movie’s art director. “He ... wasn’t really a science fiction buff. He’d rather do Sound of Music. He was older and he would sit there on sets and drift off and then have a masseuse keeping him awake. I don’t think he was ever very enthusiastic at all about directing the movie. He was wrangled into it and made good money doing it. He was not passionate, it was a job.”

The biggest impediment, though, was that, in order to meet the Christmas 1979 deadline, the production began without a completed script. Roddenberry’s episode treatment for the pilot of the now-cancelled Star Trek Phase II had been bumped up to a screenplay. In the rush to get it into production, however, nobody had got around to writing a satisfactory ending.

The story begins with the Enterprise in dry-dock above earth after an extensive refit. Word reaches Starfleet of a mysterious entity – the aforementioned V’ger – on a collision course with Earth and obliterating everything in its path. With the desk-bound Kirk, now an admiral, parachuted in as commander, the Enterprise and all our favourite crew set off on an intercept course.

So far, so Star Trek. But nobody had the foggiest how to resolve the tale of V’ger and its long journey across the galaxy.

“Here’s this gigantic machine that’s a million years further advanced than we are,” agonised screenwriter Harold Livingstone. “Now, how the hell can we possibly deal with this? On what level? As the story developed, everything worked until the very end. How do you resolve this thing? If humans can defeat this marvellous machine, it’s really not so great, is it? Or if it really is great, will we like those humans who do defeat it? Should they defeat it.”

With the basic plot still in flux, the cast were advised not to bother learning their lines from the final third of the screenplay (Roddenberry was meanwhile eased out and ultimately expunged from his own franchise). The “final” draft was not presented until September 1978. With input from Shatner and Nimoy, it had been decided the movie should conclude with V’ger becoming one with its creator.

Stephen Collins, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig and Persis Khambatta in ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’

The twist is that V’ger was the Nasa space probe Voyager 6, an update of the original 1977 Voyager probe. Discovered by a race of sentient machines, it had achieved consciousness and was now on a mission to meet its maker. That, of course, was humanity. The film ends with machine and human – in the form of Ilia and her old boyfriend Decker – merging to create a new life-form.

This was a satisfying conclusion. It re-imagined Star Trek as 2001: A Space Odyssey for slow learners essentially. And still the tweaking continued. Shatner, especially, felt he knew Kirk better than either the director or the writers and so chimed in with his own revisions. By March 1979, six months before release date, only 20 pages of the original 150-page script had been retained.

Star Trek’s special effects were a disaster too. The original plan was to hire FX wizard Douglas Trumbull. Unfortunately, he was busy on Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So Paramount instead turned to special-effects house Robert Abel and Associates, which specialised in advertising. Five million dollars was required to rush through all the necessary shots, Abel told Paramount. However, he over-reached in championing complicated graphic imaging systems that were too far ahead of their time. The months clipped by without any of the elaborate special-effects sequences completed.

“They made some really big, fundamental mistakes in trying to pre-vis on computers that weren’t ready for prime time,” said Trumbull, charging to the rescue having wrapped Close Encounters. “They spent a year and nothing was finished, and nothing worked.”

Trumbull informed Diller that he could complete the FX by deadline – but that it was going to cost Paramount. The studio had little choice. Cinema chains in the US had coughed up advance payments of $30m on the understanding Star Trek would open on 7 December. Miss that window and the studio faced multiple lawsuits. Quicker than you could say “beam me out of here, Scotty”, the budget had ballooned from the initial projection of $18m towards $45m.

“We are so tight, even now,” Wise told a reporter from Starlog sci-fi magazine visiting the set in the final weeks of the shoot. “If a strike by the stage hands – which has been threatened – lasts more than a couple of days, we won’t make it.”

Everyone involved assumed they were party to the birth of an interstellar turkey. Many feared their careers would be ruined. Star Trek’s legacy, it appeared, had been permanently tarnished.

These concerns seemed vindicated by early reviews. Time magazine grumbled The Motion Picture took “an unconscionable amount of time to get anywhere, and nothing of dramatic or human interest happens along the way”. Harlan Ellison, the science fiction author who had written for the original series, described it as “Star Trek: The Motionless Picture”.

The public begged to differ. Far from a suffering a black Christmas, Star Trek: The Motion Picture set a new record for a first weekend in December gross, bringing in more than $11m. Ultimately, it would earn more than $139m and three Oscar nominations (for best original score, best visual effects and best art direction). Despite being released at the very end of the year, it was the fifth highest-grossing movie in America in 1979.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - trailer

In the end, Star Trek: The Motion Picture achieved a sense of slow-burning wonder. It’s a languid watch – light years from the cheerful, romping TV series. But V’ger, an all-knowing machine with a childlike desire to reconnect with its maker, is a fascinating antagonist. And unlike 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film to which The Motion Picture is unashamedly indebted, the conclusion makes sense on first viewing – even if you’re a six-year-old who has scoffed too many Opal Fruits.