On this day
in 1984, Paramount Pictures released in theaters in the United States the third
film in the Star Trek franchise. This
film, entitled Star Trek III: The Search
for Spock was a continuation of the previous film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In ST3 the lead character, James T. Kirk, would learn that his dear
friend, Spock, may not be dead after all. Spock’s katra, or soul, was in the
mind of Dr. Leonard McCoy. Kirk and his crew; Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov
risk their careers and lives to save Spock and McCoy, ultimately succeeding but
at great cost.
The film was
written and produced by Harve Bennett and marked the directorial debut of
Leonard Nimoy, the actor who portrayed the titular character of this film in
the 1960’s television series and the first two films. ST3 was produced on a budget of $16 million and filmed in a mere
two months. Once in theaters, the film grossed $16.7 million its first week of
release and ultimately a total of $76.5 million in the States.
More can be
read about the film at the film’s Wikipedia and Memory Alpha webpages.
