How Are We Not Talking About This: TARANTINO R-rated Star Trek

[FireNexus]

https://www.google.com/amp/deadline.com ... 22161/amp/

Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Star Trek’ Will Be R-Rated: ‘The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith Frontrunner Scribe – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: After Deadline this week revealed that Quentin Tarantino pitched a Star Trek film to JJ Abrams and Paramount, the whole thing is moving at warp speed. Tarantino met for hours in a writers room with Mark L. Smith, Lindsey Beer, Drew Pearce and Megan Amram. They kicked around ideas and one of them will get the job. I’m hearing the frontrunner is Smith, who wrote The Revenant. The film will most certainly go where no Star Trek has gone before: Tarantino has required it to be R rated, and Paramount and Abrams agreed to that condition. Most mega budget tent poles restrict the film to a PG-13 rating in an effort to maximize the audience. That was the reason that Guillermo Del Toro’s $150 million At The Mountains of Madness didn’t go forward at Universal, even though Tom Cruise was ready to star. The exception to this rule was Fox’s Deadpool, but that film started out with modest ambitions before it caught on and became the biggest R rated film ever.

That rating was crucially important to Tarantino, who hopes to direct this Star Trek and who has helmed R rated films his entire career. Imagine how this could open storytelling lanes, or even what the banter on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise might be, if you conjure up memories of the conversations between Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, or the banter at the diner between robbers before the heist gone wrong that triggered the action in Reservoir Dogs.

Smith is best known for writing the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu-directed The Revenant and subsequently overhauled Overlord, the WWII thriller that Abrams’ Bad Robot is producing for Paramount. Pearce’s script credits include Iron Man 3, Sherlock Holmes 3, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and the TV series Runaway TV; he just directed his script Hotel Artemis; Beer’s credits are mostly upcoming, and include the Doug Liman-directed Chaos Walking, as well as Godzilla Vs. Kong, Masters of the Universe, Barbarella and Dungeons and Dragons, all big scale stuff.

They will lock one of the three quickly (if there is a front runner, it might be Smith), and the film will be scripted based on Tarantino’s idea while Tarantino is filming his next film about the Manson summer of 1969, which got set at Sony and has I, Tonya‘s Margot Robbie poised to play Sharon Tate, and Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt all having met with the filmmaker about roles.

He did an interview with Nerdist a while back that made me really confident in this. I just hope he puts in Cardassians.

[Sidewinder]

Will Avery Brooks be hired to read Samuel L. Jackson's lines in 'Pulp Fiction', so the Benjamin Sisko cameo in this video will no longer be a fanwork?

[Crazedwraith]

I can't for the life of me think how Tarintion's styling and Star Trek are going to work together.

I would have thought parody/homage along the lines of The Orville was more his style.

[Sidewinder]

I would have thought parody/homage along the lines of The Orville was more his style.

Considering the current copyright holders have turned 'Star Trek' into a parody of itself, I doubt anyone among the Millennials- or from Generation X before them (raises hand)- will bat an eye with what Tarantino is doing.

Besides, it'll be fun to hear what Vulcans use as cuss words when a Tarantino-esque Spock and a Tarantino-esque McCoy argue over the side-effects of a Tarantino-esque Kirk's overuse of viagra.

[TithonusSyndrome]

I can't for the life of me think how Tarintion's styling and Star Trek are going to work together.

Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, Vacancy) is writing. Not Tarantino.

[The Romulan Republic]

Tarantino's signature moves (old movie references, non-linear narratives, gratuitous violence, and foot fetishes) seem like an odd fit for Star Trek, and this smacks more than a little of some studio exec's desperate attempts to make a product that seems dull and dated edgy.

And yet... Tarantino is a skilled director. And the franchise can hardly do much worse than the (with occasional exceptions) meandering from mediocrity to shit that it has suffered ever since DS9 went off the air.

I say give the man a chance.

Although, I dare say the die-hard Trekkies who thought Abrams ruined the franchise by not being just like the TNG or TOS era will be fucking livid over this. If they're not, then massive hypocrisy is proved.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Don't blame the studio execs; apparently this was all Tarantino's idea which he lobbied for of his own volition. If it seems like a strange fit to you, just remember that this is a man with a deep and abiding appreciation for 60's film and television aesthetics. Does anything about the Trek franchise fit into that tradition?

[Q99]

Don't blame the studio execs; apparently this was all Tarantino's idea which he lobbied for of his own volition. If it seems like a strange fit to you, just remember that this is a man with a deep and abiding appreciation for 60's film and television aesthetics. Does anything about the Trek franchise fit into that tradition?

No, but.... he's homaged a lot of things and he has some geek interests, if he's doing Trek, he's doing the research.

So it's outside his existing filmography, but he tends to be pretty good at doing takes on different things. So I am cautious about this one, but there is reason to think it might be good. The possibility for something really interesting is there, and I'm hoping it's not just another action Trek.


Also, it will give rise to a conversation we never expected to have, "Who does Trek better, Seth McFarlen or Quintin Tarantino?"

Although, I dare say the die-hard Trekkies who thought Abrams ruined the franchise by not being just like the TNG or TOS era will be fucking livid over this. If they're not, then massive hypocrisy is proved.

From what I've seen? Aside from initial surprise and confusion, a couple of them I know are hopeful that he'll do something that draws on it's roots more, for the aforementioned reason. Also he likes talky movies, which is something they can appreciate.

[TithonusSyndrome]

No, but.... he's homaged a lot of things and he has some geek interests, if he's doing Trek, he's doing the research.

Sorry, hang on; you don't think anything about Trek has highly stylized 1960's aesthetics? Not even... TOS?

[SolarpunkFan]

In my defence: I thought this news was a hoax.

Still "KLINGON MOTHERFUCKER" would be better than a phoned-in Wrath of Khan attempt. *coughIntoDarknesshackcough*

[K. A. Pital]

A few questions have the potential to remain unanswered here. Does Captain Kirk look like a bitch?

[The Romulan Republic]

In my defence: I thought this news was a hoax.

Still "KLINGON MOTHERFUCKER" would be better than a phoned-in Wrath of Khan attempt. *coughIntoDarknesshackcough*

Well, revenge quests are a favorite theme of Tarantino's as well. So he might go for some WoK parallels himself. Only difference is that he'd probably make Kahn the protagonist.

I think a lot of this will hinge on how they approach continuity. Recent (meaning since DS9) has three main problems:

1. The writers/execs are perverts.

2. The franchise has become boring and repetitive.

3. Continuity is ignored. Related to this, the people running the show keep trying to do prequels/reboots to cash in on nostalgia, but don't have the guts to just say "we're rebooting Star Trek", so they do half-assed soft reboots, which tends to be the worst of both worlds- you get the pissed off fandom and loss of beloved past continuity, without the clean slate of ditching the baggage of past continuity.

For the first point, Tarantino is basically a wash. Nothing lost, nothing gained.

For the second... I have a hard time imagining Trek by way of Tarantino being boring.

The third point is going to be the deciding one, I suspect. If they yet again fail to learn, and try another soft-reboot, odds are it'll be problematic at best.

[SolarpunkFan]

Well, revenge quests are a favorite theme of Tarantino's as well. So he might go for some WoK parallels himself. Only difference is that he'd probably make Kahn the protagonist.

Well I did say phoned-in WoK attempts. I have my doubts he'd do a phoned-in attempt.

About the failing to learn part, judging about what others have said about Paramount's stupidity behind the scenes then there might not have been much learned on their side.

[Lord Revan]

Important question here is what does the R-rating actually bring to the table to make this a better story (or more profitble movie from PoV of the copyright holders)?

After all a poorly made R-rated movie could hurt the Star Trek brand in the eyes of the general public way more then Discovery ever could.

[FaxModem1]

I see a Bat'leth sword fight being properly bloody. I also hope it's really in the post-DS9 era, as Patrick Stewart has expressed interest if Tarintino directs.

[The Romulan Republic]

Important question here is what does the R-rating actually bring to the table to make this a better story (or more profitble movie from PoV of the copyright holders)?

After all a poorly made R-rated movie could hurt the Star Trek brand in the eyes of the general public way more then Discovery ever could.

Perhaps. But... has Tarantino ever made a non-R rated film?

This may be a marketing gimmick, but it could also just be them letting Tarantino be Tarantino. Which if you're going to hire Tarantino in the first place, is probably the right course.

[houser2112]

Important question here is what does the R-rating actually bring to the table to make this a better story (or more profitble movie from PoV of the copyright holders)?

After all a poorly made R-rated movie could hurt the Star Trek brand in the eyes of the general public way more then Discovery ever could.

Well, I think Discovery is already, at the very least, flirting with the line between PG-13 and R. Since Discovery has been greenlighted for a second season before the first is even done, that suggests to me that a more mature Star Trek isn't hurting the brand. Personally, other than the design of the Klingons and their ships and the design of the Discovery (I like all the other Fed ships I've seen, though), I like what Discovery is doing.

Tarantino is a talented director, and I generally enjoy his movies, but I'm worried about him making a Star Trek movie because I fear that his penchant for non-linear storylines combined with ST's hard-on for the putrid crutch of the time travel plot device will yield a cosmic horror terrible to behold.

[The Romulan Republic]

Time travel plots can be done well or badly. Its just that Trek has usually done them badly.

I'm not sure how Tarantino would approach that topic.

Edit: Its notable that probably the most popular Trek time travel story, The Voyager Home, mainly succeeds by being so silly that you are inclined to forget/be charitable about how stupid it is.

[Eternal_Freedom]

If Patrick Stewart really is interested in returning to a Tarantino-directed Star Trek film...I am definitely interested. They'd have to set it later in the TNG/DS9 timeline since he's older now, but that can work. Maybe a grizzled veteran hauled out of retirement for one last mission kinda thing.

At any rate, I'm going to keep a close eye on this.

[The Romulan Republic]

If Patrick Stewart really is interested in returning to a Tarantino-directed Star Trek film...I am definitely interested. They'd have to set it later in the TNG/DS9 timeline since he's older now, but that can work. Maybe a grizzled veteran hauled out of retirement for one last mission kinda thing.

At any rate, I'm going to keep a close eye on this.

Do you think they'd bring in any of the DS9/Voyager crew, or just focus on a new crew with a Picard cameo or supporting role?

They might want to not be weighed down by too much old baggage, and that might be for the best, but I feel like DS9 would fit best with the old series with the grittier Tarantino style, and Voyager is more recent, so the cast is less... elderly.

Plus, more cynically, multi-film tie-ins seem to be the big thing these days if Marvel and DC are anything to go by.

I do think you could fit Garrack, for example, into a Tarantino film without too much trouble.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Perhaps one or two. Maybe they could have Garrak, Jake and Worf enlisting Picard to help find Sisko.

EDIT: That would allow for Tarantino to do his non-linear stuff without involving time travel.

[The Romulan Republic]

One thing that worries me is Tarantino's tendency towards both grittiness and meta-stuff. Both of which are popular these days, and both of which I find overdone (even if Tarantino probably does them better than most).

Star Trek at is best has a core of optimism and moral idealism. Things can be bleak, the challenges can be great- after all, you can't have heroes or triumphs without great adversity to overcome. But at the heart of it is the idea that different people can coexist, that we can reach out together into the universe and find more than simply danger and war... that the future can be better. Which, frankly, is something that I think people really need to hear, and see, right now.

If it doesn't have that... then to me, its not proper Star Trek. At best, its a gritty SF drama with a Star Trek coat of paint.

Can Tarantino deliver that?

[houser2112]

At best, its a gritty SF drama with a Star Trek coat of paint.

Can Tarantino deliver that?

Can Tarantino deliver any SF? Has Tarantino done anything in speculative fiction? All of his movies that come to mind are either present day (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) or in the past (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight).

[The Romulan Republic]

[quote=houser2112 post_id=4042461 time=1513602833 user_id=5287]
[quote="The Romulan Republic" post_id=4042406 time=1513550942 user_id=13059]At best, its a gritty SF drama with a Star Trek coat of paint.

Can Tarantino deliver that?
[/quote]
Can Tarantino deliver any SF? Has Tarantino done anything in speculative fiction? All of his movies that come to mind are either present day (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) or in the past (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight).
[/quote]

To be fair, one doesn't have to have former experience in SF to make a good SF film. The basic rules of film-making are the same, and so are the basic rules of good writing- consistency/continuity, contrast, subtlety, and originality.

Also, there's a lot of overlap between SF and action in visual mediums.

And in any case, Tarantino [i]has[/i] done speculative fiction if you (quite reasonably) count [i]Inglorious Basterds[/i] as Alternate History.

Edit: All the quotes, italics, etc. are showing up like they do when I'm writing them, rather than how they should when I post them. Is that just the shitty computer I'm on, or is everyone else getting the same display problem?

[bilateralrope]

Edit: All the quotes, italics, etc. are showing up like they do when I'm writing them, rather than how they should when I post them. Is that just the shitty computer I'm on, or is everyone else getting the same display problem?

It's showing the same for all of us. You're lacking quotes around "houser2112" in one of your quote tags and that's fucking everything up.