Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy Was Briefly In One Of Will Ferrell's Biggest Flops

One of the biggest movie surprises of 2009 was that Brad Silberling's uncalled-for film adaptation of the 1970s Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning adventure show, "Land of the Lost," was not a waste of its talents' time. Though the film wasn't a creative high point for any of its cast members (Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, and Jorma Taccone), they were all sublimely game for what Silberling and the screenwriting duo of Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas were attempting. And while everyone is in fine form, it's hard to deny that Taccone steals the film as a mischievous, dirty-minded Chaka who keeps trying to get Ferrell's Dr. Rick Marshall killed.

Unfortunately, few moviegoers were in the mood for a big studio goof on a show they watched while snarfing down Frosted Flakes on a non-school day. The film cratered with a not-so-nice $69 million worldwide gross against a $100 million budget. Critics generally panned the movie, leaving it with a 26% Tomatometer score at Rotten Tomatoes, while folks who did buy tickets to see the movie theatrically dinged it with a dreadful C+ Cinemascore.

I don't know if this was a case of Universal failing to deliver on the marketing (they were pretty clear that Silberling's film was a comedy), or people just deciding that they weren't in the market for a spoofy adaptation, but there is no denying that a lot of people really hated this movie – which is bizarre to me because I've watched the movie twice with a crowd, and it absolutely killed both times. It's even got an unexpected and totally inspired Leonard Nimoy cameo!

Nimoy makes a late-movie appearance as the Zarn, who, via a holograph message, warns Friel's Holly Cantrell that Enik the Altrusian (John Boylan) has tricked them into acquiring a device that would allow Enik to rule and/or destroy the entire universe. We only get Nimoy's voice here, but it is unmistakably the man who became one of the most beloved television actors of all time as Mr. Spock on "Star Trek: The Original Series" and its many movie spin-offs. This would be one of Nimoy's final roles, so it's a shame that more people still haven't seen it.

Ron Meyer, the Universal executive who greenlit "Land of the Lost," trashed the movie two years after its release, calling it "crap." "I mean, there was no excuse for it," he said. "The best intentions all went wrong." The series' creators, Sid and Marty Krofft, agreed with Meyer, going so far as to apologize to 2017 San Diego Comic Con attendees for the film's existence (though they had just about zero creative involvement in the making of it).

Happily, "Land of the Lost" has acquired a cult following over the years, with one scene, where a tripping-balls Ferrell, McBride and Taccone dine on a giant crab beast, serving as the movie's, uh, high point. If you like these actors, I guarantee you'll get loads of laughs out of "Land of the Lost."