Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Star Trek - A Quentin Tarantino Movie?

Deadline is reporting that Paramount Pictures and Star Trek's Executive Producer JJ Abrams are forming a writers room to create a script based on an idea from Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight, etc.). It would be the first time Tarantino directing a theatrical film not based on one of his own ideas. Assuming the resulting script meets his approval, Tarantino might then direct the resultant Star Trek film. Tarantino is apparently a long time Star Trek fan so in theory the resultant film would feel like Star Trek even if the style and execution may not be anything the franchise has seen before. The nature of the idea, time table, and if would involve the same Kelvin-verse cast or a new cast was not mentioned.

While this is an interesting development, don't bother getting excited. This even occurring beyond the just talk phase is some very long odds as this could fall apart at any time. To start Tarantino is in pre-production on his 9th film film for an August 2019 release date. As a result, he probably would not begin pre-production on Trek until around Spring 2019 at the earliest. This assumes he doesn't take his usual multi-year break between films. Add to that he announced a while back that his intention was for his 10th film to be his last so if he is still serious about that then Star Trek would be that 10th film, which would make for unexpected feather in his cap, one he may not like. Which leads to my actual real scenario - he simply loses interest between now and then and passes anyway, regardless if the writers room script is solid and meets everyone's approval (its own mountain to be climbed). If the stars somehow align then filming could begin in 2019 for a 2020 release date but 2021 or 2022 is a more realistic date. Ultimately I would not be surprised if this doesn't go anywhere and since Paramount was disappointed with previous movies' box office results (especially the anemic growth in the international market) that also means that a Star Trek 4 will also remain on indefinite hiatus if Tarantino passes.

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