Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek Still In the Mix According to Simon Pegg

Tarantino’s comments came days after the CEO of ViacomCBS confirmed two new Star Trek films are in the works. The conflict comes from Tarantino’s commitment to directing 10 movies and then retiring. With only one film left after Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Tarantino is leaning toward dropping out of Star Trek to make his final film something smaller. “I think I’m steering away from Star Trek, but I haven’t had an official conversation with those guys yet,” he says. “In a strange way, it seems like this movie, Hollywood, would be my last. So, I’ve kind of taken the pressure off myself to make that last big voilà kind of statement. I mean to such a degree there was a moment when I was writing and went, ‘Should I do this now? Should I do something else? Is this the 10th one?’ No, no don’t stop the planets from aligning, what are you, Galactus? If the Earth is saying do it, do it. Not that it was an argument, but a little thought, like, ‘Well, if I’m gonna go out like Max Ophüls style, Lola Montez, this is it, and if It’s not good, then all my other work is trash, alright.’ This would have been the one. But in a weird way, it actually kind of freed me up. I mean, I have no idea what the story of the next one’s going to be. I don’t even have a clue.”

Tarantino pitched the idea for the film to producer J.J. Abrams, and Paramount handed the idea to a writers’ room to break down. Mark L. Smith was hired to pen the script. At last update, the project was awaiting Tarantino’s notes on the finished draft of the screenplay to move forward.

Paramount always planned for the Tarantino film to follow Star Trek 4. While the studio hoped to have Tarantino direct the film, there has always been the possibility that they could hand Tarantino’s concept to another director.