The Star Trek franchise is currently in a depressing state of disarray. Although there are still three full seasons wrapped and on the way (2 x Strange New Worlds, 1 x Starfleet Academy), there's very little to come after that. There's been some news about the upcoming movie from the duo behind Chris Pine's Dungeons & Dragons movie, but not enough to get Trekkies all that excited. But do you know what would really stoke the coals of Star Trek's dying fire? Revisiting the idea of Quentin Tarantino boldly going into the director's chair.
Despite not being commonly associated with big franchises like Star Trek, there have been various plans in the relatively recent past for an epic collaboration between Tarantino and Gene Roddenberry's beloved space opera. A movie that fit this bill was once planned, but the team-up has felt closer at times than it has others. Now, rather than feeling like an optional extra that would have given the franchise a nice boost, a Tarantino-directed Star Trek movie feels almost like a necessity.
Why the Star Trek franchise desperately needs Tarantino to finally direct his abandoned movie
Star Trek has been under the stewardship of executive producer Alex Kurtzman since the 2009 reboot movie starring Chris Pine. Although modern projects more closely aligned with the classic era, like (Strange New Worlds), have done well, some of Kurtzman's bigger swings haven't been all that well-received by fans. Discovery and Starfleet Academy stand out as the two least-liked Star Trek shows overseen by Kurtzman.
Sadly, the negative voices have gradually drowned out the positive ones when it comes to the Kurtzman era, and his contract with Paramount is expected not to be renewed when it expires later this year. With everything slowly grinding to a halt, Star Trek needs a much-needed boost that I just don't think the upcoming movie will provide. Do you know what would create an immense buzz in the fan base, though? Tarantino deciding to finally go ahead with directing the Star Trek movie he had once planned on making.
Reported to have been an R-rated project, Tarantino's Star Trek movie really got fans talking when it started to be discussed in 2017. His distinct directing style, paired with the rich world of Star Trek, sounds like both an awful match while also being a deeply intriguing prospect. Tarantino's legend transcends genre, so there was far more excitement than there was apprehension. That's exactly what Star Trek needs right now, with such an uncertain and dwindling future ahead.
A Tarantino-directed Star Trek movie could kick-start the franchise's next era
There is very little solid information when it comes to what this project would have looked like. That being said, it would certainly have been unique, and I doubt it would have relied on the presence of pre-existing Star Trek characters and storylines. Instead, it would likely have been a standalone effort that, by its very nature, would have been ripe for sequels if it performed well with fans and/or at the box office. Furthermore, Tarantino's involvement would inevitably draw in viewers who had never previously engaged with Star Trek.
Where a potential bump in the road could arise here is that Tarantino isn't the kind of director who generally involves himself with sequels. On the other hand, this philosophy hasn't completely stopped him before. What provides the most promise is the fact that Tarantino wrote and directed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019, and the upcoming sequel about Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) has a new director, David Fincher, with Tarantino only penning the script. So, even if Tarantino didn't want to direct a string of Star Trek movies, the tone he could establish in just one effort could bleed into follow-ups, replicated by other filmmakers. If he wanted, Tarantino could write or produce these sequels, but be more hands-off than he was for the original.
What ultimately killed Tarantino's Star Trek movie has happened again since
The movie actually made a little headway before Tarantino backed out in 2020. Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) was even tasked with writing a script. However, Tarantino's self-imposed 10-movie rule started to come to the forefront of the director's mind. It's long been known in the industry that he plans to retire after directing ten movies. Because he considers both Kill Bill movies to be one project, that means his R-rated Star Trek effort would have been Tarantino's swan song. Comicbookmovie reported that Smith has discussed this tricky situation. You can check out what Smith said below.
"I remember we were talking, and [Tarantino] goes, 'If I can just wrap my head around the idea that Star Trek could be my last movie, the last thing I ever do. Is this how I want to end it?' And I think that was the bump he could never get across, so the script is still sitting there on his desk."Mark L. Smith
As I mentioned earlier, Tarantino doesn't typically concern himself with pre-existing franchises. Therefore, it's understandable that he didn't want to end his career with a Star Trek movie, no matter how much he was clearly thinking about doing so. That said, his 10-movie rule has returned to haunt the director fairly recently. After beginning work in earnest on The Movie Critic, which would have been Tarantino's tenth directorial effort in a feature-length production, he pulled the plug in 2024. So, it's still unclear what will serve as the director's professional farewell. Unfortunately, we know it won't be Star Trek. "It's never gonna happen," Tarantino announced on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast in 2024.
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