While the reality of Quentin Tarantino actually directing a Star Trek movie always seemed a bit suspect, it now appears that the filmmaker will not be following through on his interest in the franchise. We heard yesterday that Tarantino might be directing a gangster-themed script from The Revenant‘s Mark L. Smith, but this can probably now be ruled out, if the latest reports are to be believed.
According to Deadline, Tarantino is no longer involved in a Star Trek project, having previously expressed doubts over whether everything could come together for him to follow through on the idea. Tarantino had apparently pitched an idea to J.J. Abrams, who then brought it to Paramount for development. Smith’s screenplay expanded on the treatment, which as previously mentioned was inspired by the original series episode “A Piece of the Action,” wherein a planet has evolved around a gangster mythology.
The immediate future of the Star Trek franchise is currently somewhat in flux, given reports that ViacomCBS have backtracked on some planned television series. Paramount are still, however, working on a number of different projects for expanding one of their most well-known properties, and have just released Star Trek: Lower Decks. On the movie front, meanwhile, Star Trek 4 with Noah Hawley is now on hold, as the studio figure out their plans for the picture.
Along with Hawley’s film, though, there seems to be two other projects that could happen, including the one that Tarantino has departed from and another movie bringing back the original Kelvin cast. There’s also been talk of spinoff films for Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, with the former potentially involving Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto via a trip to an alternative universe.
A Tarantino-directed Star Trek, complete with an R-rating, would have been a memorable twist for the long-running franchise, and did seem to be something that Paramount were willing to gamble on before the director moved on. For now, though, we’ll just have to wait for Paramount to re-evaluate and decide what the next step will be for a theatrical Star Trek movie.
