After several discussions about whether Quentin Tarantino wanted to make his own “Star Trek” film, the US director announced in 2020 that he wanted to say goodbye to the idea completely. In the next step, he encouraged his colleagues in the industry to continue the implementation without him. But what had happened there?
Screenwriter Mark L. Smith (known for his writing on “The Revenant”), who was brought in for the new “Star Trek” project by producer JJ Abrams and film production Paramount, now shares in an interview with “Collider ” with why, in his opinion, the “biggest ‘Star Trek'” in the constellation never came into being.
The number is the problem
According to Smith’s statement, Quentin Tarantino probably slowed himself down. The reason for this was his preference for numbers. In this case, his preference for the number ten – after ten works he ultimately wanted to end his directing career. Mark L. Smith quotes Tarantino as saying, “If I could only accept the idea that Star Trek would be my last film, the last one I ever make. Do I want to end it like this?” These thoughts about the number and his oeuvre probably led to the promising script still lying on the Oscar winner’s desk – without being worked on.
The “Django Unchained” maker’s decision to retire from the film business after his tenth film has been known for some time. But instead of a “Star Trek” film, his final work will now be “The Movie Critic”. At the Cannes Film Festival he revealed about the story: “The Movie Critic” would take place in 1977 and is based on a man who is said to have really lived. The mysterious critic is said to have never achieved real fame and to have published his texts in a porn magazine.
Violence that would have been reminiscent of “Pulp Fiction.”
Despite Tarantino’s vehement rejection, Mark L. Smith seems to have not given up hope that his vision for “Star Trek” will one day be realized. In an interview with “Collider”, the author emphasizes that Quentin Tarantino’s film shook up the long-standing franchise and provided it with a unique mixture of toughness and the unmistakable Tarantino flair. Smith elaborated on some details that had been known for some time: Tarantino’s “Star Trek” would have been a work for adults and would have had an age rating of 18. He is convinced that “it would have been the best ‘Star Trek’ film” – with “Tarantino flair” and violence reminiscent of “Pulp Fiction”.