The odd-numbered films face ratings jinx

Zoe Saldana, left, as Uhura and Zachary Quinto as Spock in a scene in the movie, Star Trek Into Darkness. Paramount Pictures, Zade Rosenthal / AP Photo

The internet suggests that Star Trek Beyond might be the title of the new Star Trek movie – the third film in the rebooted franchise and the 13th overall.

We're not sure where you can go that is beyond "where no man has been before". Or, rather, where "no one" has gone before, as writer and star Simon Pegg recently told The Guardian, following the lead of Star Trek: The Next Generation by accepting in the opening narration that by the 24th century, gender equality means that women get equal credit for exploring the universe.

Whether you think of the next film as third or 13th, the number might worry long-time fans. Unlucky 13 has its own connotations, but in purely Star Trek-movie terms, the perceived wisdom is that odd-numbered films are poor, while even-numbered ones are great.

That sounds a bit like Hollywood superstition, and it’s definitely a little simplistic, but there is some statistical basis to the belief.

The highest-rated odd-numbered movies from the original 10 on IMDB are the third, The Search for Spock, and Generations, the seventh movie (which was the first to feature The Next Generation crew, alongside a time-shifted Captain Kirk), which each have a 6.6 rating.

All of the even-numbered movies rate higher than this, with the exception of the 10th, Nemesis, which manages 6.4. The highest-rated of all is number two, The Wrath of Khan, which clocks in with 7.7.

Of course, the reboots technically exist outside of this rule of thumb. J J Abrams's first film – the imaginatively ­titled Star Trek – is technically an odd-­numbered entry but slam-dunked a rating of 8 on IMDB. His sequel, Into Darkness, managed a respectable 7.8.

With Simon Pegg co-writing the third film, whatever it ends up being called, I’m already confident that it will be highly rated – but it is an odd-­numbered entry, so let’s wait and see.