Quentin Tarantino Developing & may Possibly Direct a new Star Trek Movie

You can file this in news there is absolutely no way you (or anybody else) saw coming. Deadline reports that while Quentin Tarantino is already prepping his 9th film with Sony Pictures, he’s in talks with Paramount about an idea he had for a new Star Trek film. Tarantino shared his idea with Star Trek alum J.J. Abrams, who is busy himself prepping Star Wars: Episode IX, and the two have plans to assemble a writers room that will take Tarantino’s idea and get cracking on a script. If the story meets muster, Deadline reports that Tarantino might even direct the film, with Abrams producing.

Tarantino is the ultimate auteur, so it would be fairly unusual for him to direct something he didn’t technically write himself, let alone jump aboard an existing franchise. The only time he’s taken on an existing franchise was when he directed episodes of CSI and ER for TV. While he usually writes and directs his own original scripts, in the past he’s mentioned wanting to take on a project like James Bond. There are myriad hurdles for anyone taking on a lucrative, popular franchise, especially when your director is of Tarantino’s caliber, and will therefore want total control. Yet there’s no denying the thrill of imagining the world of Star Trek in his hands, especially based on a story he concocted. (It’s hard not to love the idea of marrying Tarantino’s explosive dialogue to clipped, logic-bound language of Dr. Spock).

Tarantino’s got his full plate with his Sony film, which is set around 1969 and is based, at least partly, on the Manson murders. His script predictably wowed studios, and major stars are circling, including Margot Robbie, who he wants to play Sharon Tate, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. That film is slated for an August 9, 2019 release date.

Details on the Tarantino/Abrams/Paramount/Star Trek collaboration are minimal, but you can be sure the entire film industry is waiting to hear more, as a Tarantino film is always a huge event, and a Tarantino film in space? That would be one epic inclusion to the Captain’s log.

Featured image: Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino on the set of THE HATEFUL EIGHT. Photo: Andrew Cooper, SMPSP / © 2015 The Weinstein Company. All Rights Reserved.