The film opens with footage of “Spock’s” death and funeral from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, see entry), tinted with a blue filter that gradually transitions to full color. Leonard Nimoy narrates a modified version of the opening narration from the original Star Trek television series (NBC, 8 Sep 1966—3 Jun 1969): “Space: the final frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms, and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
       End credits are preceded by a title card reading, “...and the Adventure continues…”
       Onscreen acknowledgments state: "Special Thanks to United States Marine Corp Air/Group Combat Center, 29 Palms, California."
       Roughly a month before the 4 Jun 1982 release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the 18 May 1982 LAHExam announced Paramount Pictures’ intent to continue the franchise with Star Trek: In Search of Spock, a working title that quelled the concern of fans who believed Nimoy’s character, Spock, had been killed off at the end of the previous film. On 22 Jan 1983, LAHExam stated that Nimoy would not only reprise the role, but also direct. Although the project marked his first time as a feature film director, the former U.S. Army sergeant directed several theater productions while stationed in Georgia in the 1950s, and went on to direct episodes of the television series Night Gallery (NBC, 16 Dec 1970—27 May 1973), The Powers of Matthew Star (NBC, 17 Sep 1982—15 Apr 1983), and T. J. Hooker (ABC and CBS, 13 Mar 1982—28 May 1986), the latter of which starred Star Trek’s William Shatner. According to a 4 Aug 1983 LAT article, Nimoy welcomed the chance to contribute ideas he had about the series, and the May 1984 Marquee noted his intent to return the focus of the story to its characters, which he felt were severely underserviced in the first film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, see entry). The budget was set at roughly $15-$16 million—a marginal increase from the $12-million cost of The Wrath of Khan.
       Production notes in AMPAS library files indicate that principal photography began 15 Aug 1983 at Stage 9 of the Paramount studios in Hollywood, CA. Stage 9 contained the entirety of the “USS Enterprise” sets, as well as the San Francisco bar used in a scene featuring DeForest Kelley’s character, “Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy.” Partway through filming, the Enterprise bridge was redressed to double as the “USS Grissom,” a vessel reportedly named for fallen Apollo astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom. On 25 Aug 1983, production moved to the San Francisco transporter station set on Stage 8, which was also home to “Jim Kirk’s” San Francisco apartment, the Starfleet Electronics Center, and the prison where Dr. McCoy is incarcerated. That afternoon, an arson fire destroyed Paramount’s famed New York Street, but production of Star Trek III was unaffected.
       The Stage 5 set used for “Kruge’s” Bird-of-Prey warship was previously featured in both preceding Star Trek film installments: first as the Klingon cruiser bridge in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, then as the Enterprise torpedo room in The Wrath of Khan. Scenes on the altar of Vulcan’s Mount Seleya were shot using forced perspective and oversized sets. The Vulcan surface landing was filmed over two nights on the Occidental College campus in Glendale, CA, and later completed on Paramount’s Stage 4. In mid-Sep 1983, production began on the Genesis planet action sequences on Stages 12, 14, and 15. In an article in the Aug/Sep 1984 issue of AmCin, director of photography Charles Correll expressed doubts about shooting the picture almost entirely on soundstages, and suggested locations in Kauai, HI, and Nevada’s Red Rock Canyon that could stand in as the two featured planets. However, Nimoy and Bennett remained determined to uphold the simpler, more cost-effective methods used on both the original television series and the previous films, forcing Correll to become creative with his use of color, lenses, and scale miniatures. The climactic shot of Kruge falling into a pit of lava was achieved by filming actor Christopher Lloyd against a black screen, then rotoscoping each frame and compositing the image with footage of a stop-motion puppet. Correll used Panaflex Gold equipment throughout production. Exterior Genesis scenes used Eastman 5247 film stock, while interior ship scenes were shot using Eastman 5294 color negative. Principal photography concluded 21 Oct 1983. According to a 28 Oct 1983 DV brief, Nimoy completed the film under budget at around $16 million, $4 million of which the 6 Jun 1984 Var estimated was spent on special effects.
       During production, the 19 Sep 1983 DV reported that the role of Vulcan “Lt. Saavik” originated by Kirstie Alley in The Wrath of Khan had been assumed by Robin Curtis after various sources suggested that Paramount refused to honor Alley’s increased salary demands. The 4 Aug 1983 LAT and 1 Jun 1984 NYT claimed Dame Judith Anderson was convinced to join the cast by Nimoy, who visited her Santa Barbara, CA, home to propose the role; and her nephew, who was an “ardent Star Trek fan.”
       According to Var, Paramount originally planned to book the film in 1,300-1,400 theaters, offering roughly twenty-five percent fewer seats than the previous entry, which debuted on 1,621 screens. However, increased exhibitor interest following positive test screenings in anti-blind bidding states prompted the studio to reconsider, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock opened on a record-setting 1,966 screens. The 18 Apr 1984 HR stated that 100 of those engagements were shown in 70mm format. The film’s three-day gross of $16,673,229 was the largest non-holiday domestic opening weekend to date, and the Aug 1984 Box calculated ten-day earnings of more than $35 million.
       Reviews were generally positive, although several critics commented how the ambitious special effects clashed with Nimoy’s directorial approach to return to the more modest roots of the TV series.
       Nimoy reprised his duties as director for 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (see entry), and starred alongside the returning principal cast in two additional installments: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989, see entry) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991, see entry). Following the original Star Trek series and Star Trek: The Animated Series (NBC, 1973—1974), further television programs included Star Trek: The Next Generation (syndication, 1987—1994), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (syndication, 1993—1999), Star Trek: Voyager (UPN, 1995—2001), and Star Trek: Enterprise (UPN, 2001—2005). The Next Generation also spawned four feature films. In 2009, filmmaker J. J. Abrams “rebooted” the original series characters for Star Trek (see entry) and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013, see entry). As of 18 Aug 2015, a third film is scheduled for release in summer 2016.