Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to drop one last major bombshell right before the end of the year. Movie lovers were likely shocked to learn that Tarantino was in talks to direct a Star Trek movie with the full authority of Paramount and J.J. Abrams behind him. Last month, it was reported that Tarantino had pitched an idea for a Star Trek movie to Abrams and the studio, but that he wouldn't be writing the script. Now the project seems to be moving forward, as a writers room has assembled and now Mark L. Smith, the writer of The Revenant, has been selected to pen the screenplay.
Paramount has chosen Mark L. Smith to write up Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek movie. Smith was a part of a writers room that included Megan Amram, Lindsey Beer and Drew Pearce to workshop Tarantino's idea with the acclaimed director. According to Deadline, Smith was reportedly the frontrunner for the gig and he has now reached a deal with Paramount. The writer caught the attention of J.J. Abrams and Paramount after his work on the screenplay for Overlord, an upcoming Bad Robot-produced WWII thriller about two American soldiers caught behind enemy lines on D-Day. Smith will write up the Star Trek script based on an idea from Tarantino, which could be a feature-length adaptation of a classic Star Trek episode.
This Quentin Tarantino-Star Trek project keeps getting curiouser and curiouser -- in a good way! Mark L. Smith is perhaps best known for writing The Revenant, the wilderness survival drama that finally scored Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar. That movie had huge swaths of silence whereas Tarantino is known to write 165-page scripts of mostly dialogue. Tarantino usually directs all the movies he writes, so it'll be very interesting to see how Smith's script fits with Tarantino's unique voice.
Quentin Tarantino is looking to direct this Star Trek movie, which will be R-Rated like the rest of the Pulp Fiction director's filmography. Mark L. Smith will write the script while Tarantino is busy working on his ninth movie, an untitled project about 1969 that uses the Manson Family murders as a backdrop. The film is courting major star power after Sony won an intense bidding war for the distribution rights. Tarantino has reportedly asked Margo Robbie to play Sharon Tate (famously murdered by the Manson Family) while Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Leonardo DiCaprio are also looking to join the ensemble cast. It's unknown if Tarantino is counting the Star Trek project as his tenth and final film or if he still has one more original idea he wants to check off.
This is certainly one of the most unusual and exciting pairings in recent memory, so you can bet we'll be keeping our eyes open for more news on Quentin Tarantino and his Star Trek movie. In the meantime, get pumped for a new year of movies with our 2018 release guide!
