Quentin Tarantino Preferred ‘Star Trek’ Over ‘Star Wars’ Because of 1 Actor
Quentin Tarantino has always considered himself a die-hard fan of the Star Trek franchise. But he admitted that this iconic actor was the reason for Tarantino’s hardcore fandom in the first place.
Why Quentin Tarantino picked ‘Star Trek’ over ‘Star Wars’
Tarantino might not have been as much of a Star Trek fan if it wasn’t for William Shatner’s performance. The actor played the iconic character from 1966-1969 in Star Trek: The Original Series for three seasons. His last appearance as the character was in the 1994 film Star Trek Generations.
As a genuine fan of Shatner, Tarantino followed the actor’s career and has even spoken to him personally.
“I was on a bit of a William Shatner kick where I was trying to watch the TV movies and the stuff he did after Star Trek, guesting on other shows. Everything before Star Trek the motion picture,” Tarantino once told Deadline.
Shatner was also the sole reason why Tarantino preferred Star Trek over another mega sci-fi franchise.
“It’s why I like Star Trek more than Star Wars, because William Shatner’s not in Star Wars. I think it’s one of the greatest performances in the history of episodic television, of a series lead, and rightly so, because very few series leads have ever gotten the opportunity to play all the different wild, crazy things,” he said.
Quentin Tarantino helped write a ‘Star Trek’ script with Chris Pine in mind
Tarantino openly spoke about his interest in making his own Star Trek movie. He’d even gone as far as writing a script for the sci-fi feature with The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith. At the time, Tarantino likened his would-be Star Trek project to one of his earlier works.
“It’ll be Pulp Fiction in space. That Pulp Fiction-y aspect, when I read the script, I felt, I have never read a science fiction movie that has this s*** in it, ever. There’s no science fiction movie that has this in it. And they said, I know, that’s why we want to make it. It’s, at the very least, unique in that regard,” Tarantino said.
As a longtime fan of the sci-fi franchise, Tarantino took a liking to JJ Abrams’ rebooted Star Trek movies. The filmmaker especially praised Pine’s portrayal of William Shatner’s Captain Kirk in the film.
“He didn’t go a serious actor-y way. He said, well no, I’m going to do my own thing. He’s playing the William Shatner version of Kirk and he’s doing a fantastic job at it. I mean perfect, frankly,” he said.
According to Tarantino’s writing partner Smith, their excitement for Pine as Kirk helped inform their development of the script.
“I wrote a Star Trek with Tarantino, and that was a sci-fi script on which I could have fun and lean into some bigger, broader things,” Smith said in an interview with SFX Magazine. “Kirk is always just so fun. Tarantino and I had so much fun with him, because Kirk is just William Shatner, y’know? It’s like: you’re not sure who is who, so you can kinda lean into that. Because you watch Chris Pine and he’s playing Kirk, but he’s also playing William Shatner a touch.”
Quentin Tarantino dropped out of his potential ‘Star Trek’ film
Tarantino seems to have taken focus away from his hypothetical Star Trek film for the sake of his other projects. In an interview with Consequence of Sound, the Oscar-winner shared that it was pretty likely his involvement with Star Trek was finished.
“I think I’m steering away from Star Trek, but I haven’t had an official conversation with those guys yet. 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,” he said.
In a 2020 interview with Deadline, Tarantino clarified that this didn’t mean an R-rated Star Trek project was completely dead in the water.
“I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it. It’s a good idea. They should definitely do it and I’ll be happy to come in and give them some notes on the first rough cut,” he said.
