Marlon Brando Wanted To Play A Star Trek Villain But Got Rejected For A Valid Reason

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David Carson's 1994 sci-fi film "Star Trek: Generations" came with a heap of stipulations for its screenwriters, Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga. "Generations" was based in the ultra-successful TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and it already had heaps of fans waiting in the wings, eager to see the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on the big screen. Despite this, the producers felt that there was still a mass audience out there who hadn't seen "NextGen" and still, even in 1994, only associated the franchise with Captain Kirk (William Shatner). Moore and Braga were instructed to concoct some sort of time-warp conceit that would allow Kirk to meet Picard (Patrick Stewart), hence "passing the torch" from one generation to the next. 

This was frustrating for Trekkies, because as far as they were concerned, the torch was passed years earlier when "The Next Generation" debuted in 1987. More frustrating was that "Generations" also required a villain at the center of the story, which always felt like a contrivance. Moore and Braga invented Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell), a scientist who was destroying stars to influence the gravitational path of a magical Heaven-like space ribbon called the Nexus. 

When "Generations" was still in production, however, it seems that acting superstar Marlon Brando was briefly orbiting the role of Soran. Stephen Galloway's 2017 biography "Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker," tells the story of the famed producer who, when "Generations" was in production, served as Chair of Paramount. In that book — quoted by Den of Geek — "Star Trek" producer Rick Berman recalls fielding calls from Brando and talking to Lansing about his potential involvement in the project. Lansing ultimately turned Brando down because, well, his price tag was too high. 

Although Malcolm McDowell was marvelous as Dr. Soran, when an actor of Brando's stature expresses interest in your movie, you at least hear him out. Rick Berman likely knew that Brando would fetch a high price for appearing in "Generations," but felt it was something he definitely had to bring up to the studio head. Berman was skeptical of casting Brando, however, as he knew Soren was going to get into fistfights, and Brando was, in the mid-1990s, not in the right kind of fighting shape. Nonetheless, he recalls talking with Sherry Lansing about it, saying: 

"I went to Sherry and said, 'Marlon Brando wants to play Soren.' [...] But he wanted a huge amount of money. It was numerous millions of dollars, much more than she had any interest in paying. This was also at a point when he was quite overweight, and it was an action-hero type of role. My feeling was, 'We're talking about Marlon Brando here!' But Sherry had remarkable experience in the motion picture business and said 'Brando's presence is not going to justify the expenditure.'"

Indeed, by the mid-1990s, Brando, while respected as a Hollywood legend, wasn't a giant box office draw. He'd only appeared in two movies in the 1980s, "The Formula" in '80 and "A Dry White Season" in '89, and neither of those was a runaway hit. Indeed, Brando was seen as sort of washed up by 1994, and Lansing was wise to reject him. Berman was stoked at the idea of Brando being associated with "Star Trek," of course, but Lansing's call might have been correct. Brando would have overwhelmed the movie, making both Kirk and Picard seem like supporting players. 

One can imagine the difficulty that Rick Berman felt in having to call up Marlon Brando and reject his offer. But money was money. "Star Trek: Generations" ultimately only had a budget of $35 million, and Brando would easily have tacked on at least another $15 million. "Generations" was a modest hit, making $118 million at the box office, and it's hard to imagine that it would have made much more with Brando in the role of Dr. Soran. Also, as stated, McDowell was perfectly cromulent in the role, matching Patrick Stewart for class and intensity. 

But the question lingers: why did Marlon Brando want to star in the seventh "Star Trek" movie? Maybe he just wanted to be associated with another crackerjack sci-fi film franchise, as he was an enormous draw to Richard Donner's "Superman" back in 1978. Or perhaps he was a Trekkie. Sadly, Brando is not on record with his possible love of "Star Trek." 

Brando would go on to appear in the hit romance "Don Juan DeMarco" in 1995, opposite Johnny Depp. He and Depp would work together again in Depp's 1997 directorial debut, "The Brave." Brando was also in the notoriously troubled (and widely hated) 1996 adaptation of "The Island of Dr. Moreau," playing a weirdo version of the title doctor. In 1998, Brando appeared in a tiny-budget Canadian crime thriller called "Free Money," which was never released in American theaters, and he ended his career starring in Frank Oz's 2001 heist film "The Score." He died in 2004. Sadly, a "Star Trek" project never manifested for him. The world will remain ever curious why "Generations" pinged his radar.