Quentin Tarantino is, perhaps, one of the greatest directors of all time. He has made a name for himself as a man with great talent, creating masterpieces like Pulp Fiction, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Inglourious Basterds, and Django Unchained. He has also been awarded for his achievements and contributions to Hollywood, having been nominated for an Acadamy Award six times and winning twice for his work in Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained.
Being this successful at what he does, it is no surprise that the director has had a number of opportunities to direct massive projects that sometimes don’t work out. Tarantino famously almost directed a James Bond film, however, this seems to not be the only time something like this has happened as the director almost made a Star Trek film.
Quentin Tarantino Almost Made A Star Trek Film
Back in 2017, when Quentin Tarantino was casting for his ninth film, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, there sparked some news that the director was working on a Plup Fiction-style version of the cult-classic franchise, Star Trek. It was said that he would be working alongside J.J. Abrams, best known for his work in many Star Trek and Star Wars films, who would be producing the film, and Mark L. Smith, who would be writing the script.
Simon Pegg, who plays Scotty in recent films explained, “The idea is certainly exciting. I was a bit defensive when people dismissed it as ‘It’s just going to be ‘Pulp Fiction’ in space.’ I was like, ‘No, it will be more than that.’ And then I saw Quentin and he said, ‘No, that’s exactly what it was gonna be!'”
The film was expected to be pretty much like a copy of his 1994 classic but set in space, with elements of gangsters and everything that is Star Trek, but R-rated. The storyline was expected to be similar to that of A Piece of the Action, and an episode in Star Trek: The Original Series, where the Enterprise crew discovers a planet that has modeled itself after a book that showcases the American gangster culture of the 1920s.
Why Was This Film Not Made?
While the concept on its own sounds quite interesting, things became a little hazy when Quentin Tarantino decided that his tenth film would be his last film, which we now know will be a film called The Movie Critic. With him having just done Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, the chances of the director picking a Star Trek film to be his last seemed quite unlikely. Tarantino said exactly this in December 2019, stating that he would not be part of the project anymore, even though he had not had an official conversation with anyone involved yet.
“I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it. It’s a good idea. They should definitely do it and I’ll be happy to come in and give them some notes on the first rough cut.” he stated.
A month later, the director revealed that he was officially not going to be a part of the film, adding that there is a high likelihood that the film with still happen, just not with direction. He then went on to add that he thinks that the film should definitely be made as he loves the concept of it and would even like to show up on set during the early, rough cut of the film to give his notes on it.
Source: Bulletproof Screenwriting
