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Quentin Tarantino Wants ‘Star Trek’ to be Rated R

J.J. Abrams and Paramount remain fully supportive, apparently fast-tracking the search for the film’s scriptwriter.
By  · Published on December 8th, 2017

J.J. Abrams and Paramount remain fully supportive, apparently fast-tracking the search for the film’s scriptwriter.

A few days ago, the initial news dropped that Quentin Tarantino was eyeing a Star Trek project and I, for one, was not the most excited about this potential development. Admittedly, it felt a little strange and random, and there was hope that nothing of substance would come from those alleged discussions.

However, it seems like that was all wishful thinking. Paramount is pushing Tarantino’s Trek through the pipeline at warp speed. Tarantino evidently insists on an R-rating for the Enterprise’s next adventure. Mark L. Smith, Lindsey Beer, and Drew Pearce were reportedly part of the writers room that sat “for hours” with Tarantino to flesh out those ideas for the adults-only version of Trek. Smith, screenwriter of The Revenant, seems to be the frontrunner amongst the group. The plan is to finalize a scriptwriter as soon as possible to work off of Tarantino’s story idea while the latter shoots his ninth film with Sony, which will feature the Manson murders in some capacity.

A film like Deadpool proves that “R-rated” could also be synonymous with effervescent storytelling, which may prove to work in Star Trek‘s favor. Deadpool is fundamentally based on brazen, juvenile rule-breaking. Tarantino’s movies are generally pretty similar in that regard. Maybe if his recent films such as The Hateful Eight weren’t such drags, it would be easier to think of Kill Bill and the best of Tarantino’s filmmaking.

The requirement of an R-rating just feels like a ridiculous amount of posturing for a franchise that doesn’t really need that. The issue here isn’t necessarily just about keeping a family-friendly series the way it is either, although there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Star Trek is a franchise that celebrates all walks of life, and that obviously includes kids. Taking away a whole section of Star Trek‘s audience just to assuage the whims of a filmmaker is rather pointless especially when, from a storytelling perspective, the purpose of an R-rating in the Trek universe remains elusive.

But the internet has had mixed responses to this new development and can’t stop talking about it, so the news has done its job. As Deadline writes, “Imagine how this could open storytelling lanes, or even what the banter on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise might be.” Well…

https://twitter.com/hunktears/status/938892104167591936

I hope you cringed too.

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Sheryl Oh often finds herself fascinated (and let's be real, a little obsessed) with actors and their onscreen accomplishments, developing Film School Rejects' Filmographies column as a passion project. She's not very good at Twitter but find her at @sherhorowitz anyway. (She/Her)