Of all the Star Trek creative developments over the decades, one of the craziest, if not at the top of the list, was when word came in towards the end of 2017 that Quentin Tarantino had pitched an idea for a Star Trek movie to Paramount Pictures. While this particular project has remained in the development stage, Tarantino said back in May that it was a “very big possibility” and even came up with a loophole with how he could direct a Star Trek movie without it counting as the tenth and final movie in his self-imposed limit.
However, with 2019 nearly over, apparently Quentin Tarantino is having second thoughts and is now leaning away from the Star Trek franchise. When recently asked if Star Trek will be part of his final directorial work, the filmmaker responded:
I think I’m steering away from Star Trek, but I haven’t had an official conversation with those guys yet.
This is a sharp turn from how Quentin Tarantino was feeling about his potential Star Trek involvement this past summer, but a lot can change in the span of months. Where once Tarantino was annoyed by Simon Pegg’s belief that the director wouldn’t helm a Star Trek movie when all was said and done, now it’s looking like the actor who brings Scotty to life in the Kelvin timeline was right on the money, even if Tarantino hasn’t officially talked with the Paramount brass about walking away yet.
While Quentin Tarantino didn’t provide any specific reasoning for why he’s contemplating moving away from Star Trek in his interview with Consequence of Sound, he did say that it seems like his latest movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, would be his "last" movie. Whatever he directs next would be a “a little smaller” and serve as more of an epilogue to his directing career, rather than make a “grand statement,” which he thinks Once Upon a Time in Hollywood did nicely.
One thing that’s unclear is even if Quentin Tarantino bows out from the Star Trek franchise, will the concept that he pitched and The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith was hired to turn into a script still move forward? Over the weekend, it was confirmed that two Star Trek movies are in development, and we know one of them is the yet-to-be-officially-titled Star Trek 4, which was recently revived with Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley in talks to write and direct. Is the second movie still the Tarantino one or something different?
Quentin Tarantino had previously said that his Star Trek movie would also feature the Kelvin timeline crew of the Enterprise, so it’s possible that with Star Trek 4 being back on track, that could have complicated what Tarantino had planned. On the other hand, if Paramount is still interested in using the script based off Tarantino’s idea, it could be adjusted to serve as Star Trek 5, even if it wasn’t necessarily R-rated like he planned.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates with what’s happening with the film side of the Star Trek franchise, as well as what ends up being Quentin Tarantino’s final movie. For now, you can look forward to the next Star Trek TV series, Picard (which has already been renewed for a second season), dropping on CBS All Access January 23.
Feel free to also look through our 2020 release schedule to plan your trips to the theater next year accordingly.
