It sure looks as though Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Star Trek’ movie will not be happening after all.
In an interview with Deadline, the filmmaker is now distancing himself from directing the R-rated “Star Trek” movie he kept talking about for the better part of two years. .“I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it,” Tarantino tells Deadline. If you remember, in December, Tarantino had told Consequence of Sound that he was “steering away” from the project. “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.”
Just to recap: Tarantino had pitched an idea to ‘Trek’ producer J.J. Abrams about an R-rated ‘Star Trek’ movie. This set off Abrams into sending scribe Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant,” “Overlord”) down QT’s way so that they could collaborate and share ideas, which they have been doing ever since.
This puts to rest all the rumors which veered towards the R-rated “Star Trek” being Tarantino’s final film of his career. Tarantino has been insisting that he plans to quit making movies after his 10th feature. Of course, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is his ninth feature, so that just leaves one more. So, fine, Tarantino has reiterated the fact that he wants to end his career at 10 movies. I have, justifiably, prayed that he wouldn’t end it with his R-rated Star Trek movie, a passion project which seems to have started a few years back.
Tarantino has also hinted at potentially directing a horror movie, but, surprisingly, he says that Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” films have given him some solace in the fact that he didn’t end up making his own slasher film because Zombie did it so well.
This whole notion of retiring after 10 movies comes from the director’s theory that a director’s quality of work only gets worse as it goes along. Tarantino wants his filmography to be perfect or, as he puts it, “without a misfire.” I know some may not agree that he hasn’t had a misfire, but I do. I even loved “Death Proof” and “The Hateful Eight.”
And so, the sky’s the limit for QT as to which project he would love to end his career with. Maybe he could finally give us that Vega Brothers/Pulp Fiction spinoff which has been rumored now for the better part of two decades.
The theatrical version runs 108 minutes, so we're talking a nearly 2-hour-10-minute cut of a movie that works because it's lean, and I'm not sure anyone needs that.