Quentin Tarantino Would Make Potential Star Trek Movie 'Exactly' Like 'Pulp Fiction in Space'
“Pulp Fiction in space” — that’s what director Quentin Tarantino would like to do with a new Star Trek movie, if he decides to join the project.
The 56-year-old Oscar winner had already been busy working on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, out July 26, when he pitched the Star Trek idea to Paramount. The company has since assembled a team of writers to work on a screenplay.
In an interview with Deadline, the Oscar winner talked about his vision for the franchise and called out Star Trek writer and actor Simon Pegg, saying that Pegg’s comments from a 2018 interview are wrong.
“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. One of the comments he said, he’s like ‘Well, look, it’s not going to be Pulp Fiction in space,’ ” Tarantino said, which he says it will be.
“If I do it, that’s exactly what it’ll be. It’ll be Pulp Fiction in space,” Tarantino added with a laugh.
A new Star Trek movie written by Mark L. Smith and directed by JJ Abrams, with his involvement, would also be R-rated, Tarantino told Deadline.The last Star Trek film in the sci-fi franchise was 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, rated PG-13.
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“I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal but if I’m going to do it, then I’m going to do it my way. 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,” he said.
Tarantino is a big fan of the outer space odyssey and particularly loves William Shatner’s performance in the original 1960’s television series.
“I love William Shatner on Star Trek. I love his performance as James T. Kirk. That is my connection. That is my umbilical cord,” Tarantino said. “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.”
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Despite his love of Shatner’s Kirk, Tarantino also said he has enjoyed Chris Pine‘s performance of the Spaceship Enterprise’s captain in the Abrams reboot.
“I thought Chris Pine channeled William Shatner. He didn’t go a serious actor-y way,” he said.
As to whether Tarantino will get involved in the franchise he said, “I don’t know if I’ll do it or not. I’ve got to figure it out, but Mark wrote a really cool script. I like it a lot.”
If he does director the movie, Tarantino has alluded that it might be his last.
“I think when it comes to theatrical movies, I’ve come to the end of the road,” Tarantino told GQ Australia in early July.
“Maybe I’ll stop right now! Maybe I’ll stop while I’m ahead,” he said. “We’ll see.”
