It was recently reported that director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight) had an idea for a new Star Trek movie that was enthusiastically received by series producer J.J. Abrams (Star Trek Beyond, Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Now Deadline has not only brought word about who Abrams has put together for the writers room, but also that Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek will be rated R! The rating was a sticking point in order for Tarantino to sign on as director (all of his films have carried the rating), and Paramount agreed to those terms. While big-budget, R-rated studio films were the norm in the ’80s and ’90s (Terminator 2, Rambo III, True Lies, The Matrix), the practice died down in the 2000s, with many previously-violent and profanity-laden franchises downgraded to PG-13 (Die Hard, Terminator, etc). The expensive R film has only come back into vogue in recent years with tentpoles like Mad Max: Fury Road, Logan, Deadpool, and Blade Runner 2049.
A-list screenwriters gathered together by Abrams to pitch their takes on Tarantino’s story include Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, The Hole), Lindsey Beer (the upcoming Chaos Walking and Godzilla Vs. Kong) and Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3, Sherlock Holmes 3, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation). Smith is reportedly the frontrunner to get the gig, which would be significant as the first person to co-write a screenplay for a Tarantino-directed film since Roger Avary co-wrote Pulp Fiction. It is also unknown if the new Trek adventure will involve the current cast, or even take place in the same alternative timeline to the original William Shatner-led series. Writers J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were originally pegged to draft a Star Trek 4 that involved Chris Hemsworth’s return as Kirk’s father George, but that appears to be in limbo.
RELATED: The Ninth Quentin Tarantino Movie Will Hit Theaters in August 2019
Star Trek, the first film in the rebooted franchise based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry, earned more than $380 million worldwide in 2009. The second installment, Star Trek Into Darkness, earned more than $460 million worldwide when it opened in May 2013. The series’ third film, Star Trek Beyond, which opened on July 22, 2016 made over $343 million worldwide.
Tarantino has never taken on a franchise in the film world before, and his involvement is Trek is tentative. His next film, which is set around the Charles Manson murders, is set at Sony and was given an August 2019 release date, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the murder of Sharon Tate and four others on August 9, 1969. The film is currently being called #9. Sources also have compared the film to Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction while noting it will have a budget in the range of Django Unchained, which had a $100-million budget but grossed over $425 million at the global box office.
It would be interesting to speculate on what a Star Trek movie would look like, with Quentin Tarantino’s unique style of filmmaking. What do you guys think of a Star Trek movie from Quentin Tarantino? Let us know in the comments.
