Star Trek: Jonathan Frakes Wants to Work With Quentin Tarantino but Thinks Franchise’s Future May Be on Television

The future of the Star Trek film series is uncertain. After negotiations with star Chris Pine fell through, Paramount Pictures was forced to shelve the fourth film set in the Kelvin Timeline. Reports suggested the studio was still moving ahead with a Star Trek project conceived of by Quentin Tarantino, but there has been no public movement on that project in some time.

Jonathan Frakes has some experience with Star Trek films, having starred in four of them and directed two, Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. He tells Trek Movie that he isn’t sure about Star Trek‘s cinematic future, but he would love to work with Tarantino.

“It is hard to say,” he says. “I am a huge fan of not only Chris Pine but Karl Urban as Bones, I thought he was magical in that franchise. I was among the members of the [Star Trek: The Next Generation] cast that liked J.J.’s Star Trek and have embraced his shooting style on [Star Trek: Discovery]. I am a big J.J. fan. I think he is a great storyteller… Selfishly I guess we are all a little old for a Next Gen movie. I was very, very excited about the possibility of working with Quentin Tarantino.”

As Frakes mentions, he’s directed episodes Discovery on CBS All Access. That’s a show that has cinema-quality visuals and, reportedly, the budget to match. Given that, Frakes wonders if the franchise’s future is better suited for its original home on television.

“I’m also not sure that Star Trek isn’t better off – in this high-end television world we are in now – that great 50-year tradition of this show which are these cautionary morality plays,” he explains. “The episodic style has been so good for the franchise. I can’t believe we are at the end of the second season of Discovery as a fan. And I am sure some of this has to do with the fact that I have been in movie jail – I did three successful movies and one massively unsuccessful movie and have been in movie jail ever since. I am very grateful to be working on television. I also think that television is the medium now for new ideas.”

Would you like to see Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek? Will more Star Trek movies happen, or do you think Star Trek‘s future is on television? Let us know what you think about Star Trek‘s future in the comments section!

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