Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the third feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. After the death of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) during the events of The Wrath of Khan, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns to Earth. When James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that Spock's essence or katra is held in the mind of Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Kirk and company steal the Enterprise in order to return Spock's body to his home planet. The crew must also contend with hostile Klingons, led by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), bent on stealing the secrets of a powerful terraforming device.
Paramount commissioned the film after positive critical and commercial reaction to The Wrath of Khan. Nimoy took over directing duties, the first Star Trek cast member to do so. Producer Harve Bennett wrote the script starting from the end and working back, and intended the destruction of the Enterprise to be a shocking development. Bennett and Nimoy collaborated with effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to develop storyboards and new ship designs; ILM also handled the film's many special effects sequences. James Horner, The Wrath of Khan's composer, returned to expand his themes from the previous film.
The Search for Spock opened June 1, 1984. In its first week the film broke Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's gross records, making $16 million in almost 2,000 theaters across the United States. It went on to make $76 million in the US domestic box office, and achieved a total of $87 million worldwide. Critical reaction to The Search for Spock was mixed; critics alternatively praised and lambasted the film's special effects and operatic story. Film reviewer Roger Ebert called the film a compromise between the first and second films of the Star Trek series. The Search for Spock was released on multiple home video formats, including VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray high definition discs. Nimoy went on to direct The Search for Spock's sequel, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
