Over the last year or so, there has been a ton of talk about Quentin Tarantino’s “Star Trek” pitch that he gave to producer J.J. Abrams. Will it turn into a film? Will the filmmaker direct? Is it really R-rated? Will it be the end of ‘Trek?’ But there’s hardly ever been any talk from Tarantino himself. Most of the discussion has been speculation or hearsay.
Well, thanks to Deadline, we have the first real discussion of the project with the man himself, Quentin Tarantino. And you know what? It doesn’t sound all that crazy when you actually see how much he loves ‘Trek’ and how the filmmaker describes his take.
“I’m a big fan of the show ‘Star Trek,’” explained Tarantino. “I really like it a lot, but my portal into that show is William Shatner… That is my connection. That is my umbilical cord. It’s why I like ‘Star Trek’ more than ‘Star Wars,’ because William Shatner’s not in ‘Star Wars.’ I think it’s one of the greatest performances in the history of episodic television, of a series lead, and rightly so, because very few series leads have ever gotten the opportunity to play all the different wild, crazy things.”
READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino Is Willing To End His Career Directing A ‘Star Trek’ Film
He added, “So that’s why I actually really was so taken with JJ Abrams’ first reboot and how fantastic I thought Chris Pine channeled William Shatner. He didn’t go a serious actor-y way. He said, ‘Well no, I’m going to do my own thing.’ He’s playing the William Shatner version of Kirk and he’s doing a fantastic job at it. I mean perfect, frankly. And [Zachary] Quinto is perfect as Spock. Those two guys, they fucking got it.”
As for the R-rating rumors, Tarantino says it has more to do with his sensibilities than it does his desire to inject sex and ultra-violence in the world of ‘Trek.’
“If you’ve seen my nine movies, you kind of know my way is an R-rated way and a way that is without certain restrictions. So that goes part and parcel. I think it would be more controversial if I said I’m going to do a PG movie and it’s going to fit exactly in the universe. It’s not me,” he said.
“As long as Paramount likes the idea and the script they almost got nothing to lose right now when it comes to ‘Star Trek,’” the filmmaker added. “‘Deadpool’ showed that you can rethink these things, do them in a different way. So really, even before JJ knew what the idea was, his feeling was, if it wants to be an R rating, fine. If it wants to be the ‘Wild Bunch’ in space, fine.”
Of course, the idea that Tarantino is involved in a ‘Trek’ project isn’t the biggest thing that is keeping film fans interested in news about the film. The big question that lingers over the project is whether or not the filmmaker will step behind the camera and make the upcoming “Star Trek” film his 10th (and presumably final) film?
“I don’t know if I’ll do it or not,” Tarantino revealed. “I’ve got to figure it out, but Mark [L. Smith] wrote a really cool script. I like it a lot. There’s some things I need to work on but I really, really liked it. I get annoyed at Simon Pegg. He doesn’t know anything about what’s going on and he keeps making all these comments as if he knows about stuff.”
The comments he’s referring to are about Pegg talking about the status of Tarantino’s ‘Trek’ film. At one point, Pegg said that he didn’t think it was likely going to happen. Then he said that he didn’t think that the filmmaker would direct. And lastly, Pegg compared the idea that Tarantino’s ‘Trek’ would be “Pulp Fiction” in space.
And on the topic of that last quote, the filmmaker agreed and said, “If I do it, that’s exactly what it’ll be. It’ll be ‘Pulp Fiction’ in space. That ‘Pulp Fiction-y’ aspect, when I read the script, I felt, I have never read a science fiction movie that has this sh*t in it, ever. There’s no science fiction movie that has this in it. And they said, I know, that’s why we want to make it. It’s, at the very least, unique in that regard.”
Either you’re reading these quotes and thinking, “Oh my god, this sounds amazing!” or “Holy shit, this is the worst idea ever.” And you wouldn’t be called crazy for letting either of those thoughts run through your mind. However, no matter what your thoughts are about a Tarantino ‘Trek’ film, it would definitely be interesting. And in that regard, let’s see what happens and be cautiously optimistic.