Let’s face it, did anyone REALLY think a Quentin Tarantino ‘Star Trek’ movie was going to happen? The auteur behind some of the most innovative and acclaimed films of the last 30 years has built his career on only making movies that he wrote himself and telling stories that he wanted to tell. He has never been a “gun for hire,” and the closest he’s ever come to a franchise is the ‘Kill Bill’ series, which was really one long movie split into two. (Although, it is clear that some of his movies exist in a shared universe.)
So it shouldn’t be surprising that in a recent conversation with Consequence of Sound, he stated:
“I think I’m steering away from Star Trek, but I haven’t had an official conversation with those guys yet.”
Tarantino first expressed interest in directing a ‘Star Trek’ movie in 2017 and Paramount, the studio behind ‘Trek’, obviously pounced on the idea. What studio wouldn’t? Since then, there have been a number of rumors and comments regarding his ‘Trek’ flick, but it has never been officially announced that he was working on a movie.
Tarantino’s films tend to be saturated with pop culture references, and he is a self-avowed Trekkie, so it’s obvious that fans would like to see what he would actually produce if given the chance to play in that sandbox. But the director has expressed that he only plans to make one more movie and then retire. That would bring his number of features to an even 10. It always seemed very unlikely that he would go out with a movie that wasn’t 100% his creation.
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In fact, many feel that this year’s acclaimed ‘Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood’ would serve as an effective swansong, as it synthesizes so many Tarantino elements into one film.
Later in his interview, he stated:
“In a strange way, it seems like this movie, Hollywood, would be my last. So, I’ve kind of taken the pressure off myself to make that last big voilà kind of statement. I mean to such a degree there was a moment when I was writing and went, ‘Should I do this now? Should I do something else? Is this the 10th one?’ No, no don’t stop the planets from aligning, what are you, Galactus? If the Earth is saying do it, do it. Not that it was an argument, but a little thought, like, ‘Well, if I’m gonna go out like Max Ophüls style, Lola Montez, this is it, and if it’s not good, then all my other work is trash, alright.’ This would have been the one. But in a weird way, it actually kind of freed me up. I mean, I have no idea what the story of the next one’s going to be. I don’t even have a clue.”
Tarantino didn’t say that he absolutely would not be directing a ‘Star Trek’ movie, but it doesn’t sound like something he’s passionate about, so it’s very likely not going to happen.
Are you disappointed that this hypothetical project seems to be dead?
