Photo: John Manard / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The useless fact
Which Star Trek movie was directed by Commander Riker himself?
Answer: Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Jonathan Frakes' feature directing debut.
Why It’s True
The Los Angeles Times called First Contact Frakes' "feature directing debut" when it opened in November 1996. He'd already directed eight Next Generation episodes. StarTrek.com reports a $30.7 million opening weekend and about $92 million at the domestic box office. It also says Tom Hanks was offered the role of Zefram Cochrane but passed because he was making That Thing You Do!
Sources
- Category
- Movie Facts
- Also in
- None
- Decade
- 1990s
- Franchise
- Star Trek
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Published
- October 31, 2026
- Updated
- Fact-checked October 31, 2026
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- Star Trek — franchise hub
- Jonathan Frakes — pcp-person-00005
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