Tarantino vs. ‘Star Trek’: Everything you need to know about the enterprise

Quentin Tarantino has been clear for a while that he wants to retire from film after his perfect ten films. Once he releases his final film, he’ll leave the director’s chair behind and turn to the simple life of a writer – at least in theory. With Tarantino’s ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood out in theaters now, everyone is waiting to see if he follows through with that plan. 

If Tarantino’s next project is truly his final film, he’s going out with a bang. Quentin Tarantino is supposed to helm a new Star Trek film at Paramount after he pitched an idea to J.J. Abrams. Both Bad Robot and Paramount are interested in him taking the reins on the franchise.

Tarantino is a known fan of Star Trek, so he wants to put his own spin on the sci-fi universe. He’s even considered bringing in more characters from the original show than just Lenard Nimoy (R.I.P.) as Spock. However, he apparently hasn’t taken a look at the commissioned script by The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith yet. 

There’s a lot of news surrounding the combo of Tarantino plus Star Trek, between comments from the director, the original Star Trek cast, and the Kelvin timeline Star Trek cast. It’s a bit confusing as to what’s true and not at this point, especially since Tarantino hasn’t even made a full edit of Smith’s script yet. With so much misinformation in the air, we’re here to offer some clarity.

We’ve looked at everything announced officially and unofficially about the project to get an idea of what awaits the U.S.S. Enterprise next. A large majority of this is coming from Tarantino directly, so if what he’s saying is true, we have a great film awaiting us sometime in the near future.

Story

Considering Tarantino hasn’t even taken a look at the script yet, there isn’t much out there in terms of what his film would be about. One thing’s for sure: the Kelvin timeline is not making an appearance in this film. 

In an interview on the MTV podcast Happy Sad Confused, Tarantino made it clear that even having the timeline explained to him by Abrams himself left him confused: “Something happened in the first movie that now kind of wiped the slate clean. I don’t buy that. I don’t like it. I don’t appreciate it.” Needless to say, he’ll be sticking with the stories he loves instead.

There is a script written by Mark L. Smith in the hands of Paramount, commissioned after Tarantino pitched the idea to Abrams. But with how little official information is out about this project, who knows if that’s the script we’ll see on the big screen eventually. Tarantino keeps advertising his version of Star Trek as “Pulp Fiction in space”. That we cannot offer clarification on other than: “It’s called trolling, dude”. (See below.)

Cast (and who may come back)

If he decides to not follow the Kelvin timeline, who will Tarantino’s Trek story be about? Get ready to be even more confused: Tarantino would love Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto to star as Kirk and Spock but in a Prime timeline movie. The way Tarantino would make their appearances work would be to set the movie prior to Star Trek: The Original Series.

Of course, if it’s going to be a prequel to the show that launched the franchise, Tarantino will be sure to find a way to get his favorite Kirk in the film, William Shatner. Tarantino fanboys over Shatner anytime he’s asked about the Star Trek film, and Shatner has responded with love back and interest in his new project.

But who else would make appearances? John Cho is interested as returning as Sulu from the Kelvin films, as is George Takai from the original series. Takai won’t officially sign onto any film until he gets a look at the script, but he’s got hopes for the film. On the other hand, Simon Pegg is most likely not making a reappearance as Scotty – more than anything because he gets on Tarantino’s nerves.

Simon Pegg keeps trying to turn to the concerned fanbase, reminding them that Tarantino is a fanboy himself and wouldn’t do anything like a “Pulp Fiction in space”. He’ll pay proper respect to the franchise, Pegg swears! 

Of course, when Tarantino heard that, he tore Pegg a new one. In an interview with Deadline, Tarantino framed it thusly: “He doesn’t know anything about what’s going on, and he keeps making all these comments as if he knows about stuff.” Purses at dawn, bitches.

How this fits in with the timeline(s)

Tarantino is no friend of the Kelvin timeline, but he would also be the one to try and make sense of the two timelines. Regardless, how the fans will react depends on if Tarantino sticks with his R-rated desires or not. Tarantino said he’s not afraid of making an R-rated Star Trek, and based on rumors, neither is Paramount.

But the franchise is well known for being relatively clean; Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access has received flack for adding cursing and bloodthirsty slayings into the franchise. Will the fans be willing to accept an outsider coming in to mess with the timelines and “dirtying up” Star Trek?

Any clue when it’s coming out?

Short answer: No. Long answer: No, of course not, considering Tarantino hasn’t even looked at the first draft of the script. But with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood out in theaters, Tarantino will definitely be on the lookout for his new project, and may be putting some more time into this, possibly his final magnum opus.