Legendary actor Marlon Brando wanted to be in Star Trek Generations. Malcolm McDowell ultimately played the 1994 film’s villain, Soran. However, Producer Rick Berman told the Shuttlepod Show that Brando wanted the role.
“I got a call one day that Marlon Brando wanted to play the role. And I didn’t get the call from Marlon Brando, I got it from his agent.”
Paramount Pictures studio head at the time, Sherry Lansing, told Berman that “Nobody is really interested in Marlon Brando anymore. It’s been years since he’s done anything.” Money also played a role. Brando wanted a paycheck near Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner.
The movies Berman produced had budgets equal to “the food budget” on today’s modern Marvel superhero films. According to IMDB, Generations had a $35 million budget. For comparison, Spider Man No Way Home had an estimated $200 million budget.
Generations was the first film for the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast. Had Brandon prevailed, he would square off against Captain Kirk and Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard.
Soran was a refugee from the Borg assimilation of his world. The El-Aurian scientist had an obsession with the Nexus. That energy ribbon is key in Generations.
However, Lansing was not totally correct. To be clear, Brando was still active in the mid-1990s. Don Juan DeMarco is a romantic comedy drama starring Brando and Johnny Depp. The Godfather actor played an aging psychiatrist who believes in Depp.
Furthermore, Brando had roles in 1992’s Christopher Columbus and The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1996. Additionally, the Superman actor joined Robert De Niro in 2001’s The Score.
