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Khan You Believe It? Quentin Tarantino Could Helm A Star Trek Movie

Move over J.J. Abrams, there's a new big kahuna in town, and this is one guy who you don't want to mess with as he sets his sights on the Starship Enterprise.

By Tom ChapmanPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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'Star Trek Beyond' [Credit: Paramount]

Move over J.J. Abrams, there's a new big kahuna in town, and this is one guy who you don't want to mess with as he sets his sights on the Starship Enterprise. Abrams put his stamp on the world of Spock and Starfleet with Paramount's first two "reboot" entries in 2009 and 2013, while Justin Lin helmed last year's underwhelming Star Trek Beyond. With the whole series facing a black hole of uncertainty, could #QuentinTarantino be the one to steer #StarTrek somewhere that no fan has gone before.

Trekin' In Out

When ambushed in a recent TMZ interview and asked whether he would ever stick on a red shirt, an irritated Tarantino brushed off reporters with a simple, “It would be worth having a meeting about.” Interestingly, his comment has caused a number of sites to unearth a Nerdist podcast from 2015 where the acclaimed director expressed his ideas to send Captain Kirk and his crew somewhere new.

In the interview, Tarantino took a katana to Abrams' Star Trek: Into Darkness and shredded its continuity issues, the use of Khan, and pretty much the entirety of Benedict Cumberbatch's performance. Tarantino certainly seems confident that he could do a better job:

“I think they might have trapped themselves a little bit by the simple fact that they have to use all the crew now. In all the films, they’ve established it so much that you need Uhura, you need Scotty, you need Bones, you need all that stuff going on all the time. Everybody has to be represented in some big story where they all have to deal."

He then went on to say how he would tackle a feature film, taking a more basic approach and influence from the original series from the '60s:

I actually think it could be cool because some of those episodes are fantastic and the only thing that limited them was their ’60s budget and their eight-day shooting schedule – and even having said that they did a magnificent job. But you could take some of the great, classic Star Trek episodes and just easily expand them to 90 minutes or more, and really do some amazing, amazing stuff.”

Given that Paramount is particularly peeved about Abrams jumping off the Enterprise and back to the Millennium Falcon for Star Wars: Episode IX, now could be the perfect time for someone else to beam aboard the franchise.

That being said, surely the arrival of someone like Tarantino would require a complete overhaul rather than just sticking on Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" as Kirk and Uhura dance around the bridge. It could be time to wave goodbye to big stars like Chris Pine, Karl Urban, and Zoe Saldana, but at least they had a good run. After three mixed bag entries on Paramount's DVD shelf, perhaps a violent splash of some new blood could be the way to take Trekkies.

As for Tarantino, the man behind Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and the Kill Bill movies definitely has the potential to weave his magic on any movie franchise. As far back as Dogs and going right through to his most recent entry with The Hateful Eight, the 54-year-old has been a master of slick dialogue in a confined space. Well, you don't get more confined than a tin can floating around in the vast expanse of space, do you? Obviously, Tarantino comes with his own uber-violent take on the world, but is that really a bad thing?

Only this year, we have seen a darker take on Gene Roddenberry's creation thanks to Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman's Star Trek: Discovery, and while it is too early to tell, the brutal new outing is hitting a warp drive of praise. Tarantino claims that he will retire after 10 films, and although that there are two mystery projects left for the manic movie maker, tackling Star Trek would be one hell of a way to go.

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About the Creator

Tom Chapman

Tom is a Manchester-based writer with square eyes and the love of a good pun. Raised on a diet of Jurassic Park, this ’90s boy has VHS flowing in his blood. No topic is too big for this freelancer by day, crime-fighting vigilante by night.

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