At the end of 2017, we first heard the curious, intriguing and ridiculous to the point of straining believability, news that Quentin Tarantino might direct a Star Trek movie. Over the ensuing two years we’ve heard bits and pieces about what the project could be, and while development has been slow, Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek has seemingly remained a thing that could actually happen. Now it seems that possibility is likely over because Quentin Tarantino has confirmed he probably won’t direct a Star Trek movie, saying:
I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it. It’s a good idea. They should definitely do it and I’ll be happy to come in and give them some notes on the first rough cut.
Quentin Tarantino isn’t outright saying that there is absolutely 0% chance he’ll direct a Star Trek movie, but he seems pretty sure that he’s not going to. The director, whose film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is up for 10 Oscars at the upcoming Academy Awards including Best Director, just doesn’t think that he’s going to direct Star Trek anymore.
Despite Quentin Tarantino entertaining the idea of directing a Star Trek movie and even though Paramount assembled a writer’s room and hired someone to pen a screenplay based on his idea, Tarantino actually directing a Star Trek movie always seemed like a long shot. Things appeared to be trending in this direction as well, with Tarantino saying in December that he was steering away from the project-- although he had had no formal conversations to that effect.
So it seems that we will probably not be getting a Quentin Tarantino directed Star Trek film and it will go down as one of the greatest and weirdest ‘What if?’s in franchise filmmaking history. But just because Quentin Tarantino isn’t going to direct Star Trek, doesn’t mean that his ideas for the film are necessarily extinguished.
As Quentin Tarantino tells Deadline, he apparently thinks that Paramount Pictures might still make the movie based on his idea. As you’ll recall, Paramount assembled a writers room to workshop Quentin Tarantino’s idea for a Star Trek movie and hired The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith to pen the screenplay. So in theory, the idea is still viable, it just won’t be Quentin Tarantino bringing it to life onscreen.
Quentin Tarantino did not reveal why specifically he’s leaning away from doing Star Trek, be it a lack of interest, his 10-film limit, or other, more interesting projects, but the director still seems keen on his Star Trek idea and hopes that Paramount makes it. He seems somewhat confident the studio will and even offered his services to come provide notes on the first cut.
The question is whether or not Paramount would be still be interested in doing the film without Quentin Tarantino attached as director. Although not as interesting as it would be had he directed it, ‘Story by Quentin Tarantino’ still sounds like it could confer some interest. It’s also unclear how this project relates to Noah Hawley’s Star Trek film, if at all.
We’ll keep you updated on all the goings on in the final frontier. In the meantime, check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see what movies you can look forward to this year.
