With no Star Trek shows left on the 2025 TV schedule, fans are busy debating the franchise's direction and discussing past projects that never materialized. While there is promising news that the franchise will return to the big screen, we already know Paramount passed on Quentin Tarantino's pitched movie. Simon Pegg recently commented on what he knows of that script, and he didn't hold back while sharing his opinion on it.
Pegg, who plays Scotty in the Star Trek Kelvin universe and was a co-writer on the screenplay for Beyond, was recently asking about Tarantino's movie at FanExpo Boston. An attendee asked him about what he knew of the Trek movie that never happened, and he gave a few thoughts (via Collider):
That was what we call in the business bat shit crazy. It was everything you expect a Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek script to be...I didn't read it but it was described to me. Lindsey, our producer, and J.J. Abrams had read it as well. That would've been amazing. I think it would've been an incredibly sort of curio to see Star Trek through his lens. I don't know how it would've gone over with the fans. But it certainly would've been an interesting thing.
Simon Pegg describing Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek movie as a "curio" and stating he "Didn't know how it would go over with fans," told me all I needed to know. The movie might've had more of an appeal with a mainstream audience than the usual franchise fare, but it doesn't sound like it would've been something the core fanbase might not have enjoyed.
Not that any of that is incredibly surprising to learn, as I'd previously written about how I felt Tarantino's style was a bad fit for Star Trek. As interesting as it was to hear that a major, acclaimed director was interested in making a movie for the franchise, I think more of the fan intrigue was in what it would be like, rather than whether it would actually be something that people would enjoy.
Something that remains of high interest, almost a decade after the last one, is another Star Trek movie. Simon Pegg made a brief mention of some optimism that we'll eventually get a fourth Kelvin movie, thanks to a leadership change at Paramount:
I'm hoping now that David Ellison is now high up at Paramount...David's always been a big supporter of the Kelvin timeline. So, who knows? Maybe we'll get to make another one.
Despite his feelings that a sequel is "forever tainted" without the late Anton Yelchin being able to be involved, Simon Pegg is still hopeful that the fourth Kelvin movie will get made eventually. It's not for a lack of trying, as we've seen several false starts to get one off the ground over the years.
David Ellison did note, not long after the Paramount and Skydance merger, that he wanted to prioritize bringing Star Trek back to theaters. While there are already movies that are in development, an appetite for the fourth Kelvin project remains strong among fans.
Whether it will actually happen remains a mystery, as the all-star ensemble cast is as busy as ever. I can only imagine the logistical nightmare it would be to wrangle them all together on the set for multiple days of filming, as even Star Trek: Beyond featured much of the story with the cast apart. I'd love to see it happen, but I also wonder if it isn't more worthwhile to just jump ahead in the timeline with a new cast in the TNG era.
While Paramount executives likely debate the same issues, I'll continue to watch the old movies and series over on Paramount+ and wonder about the what-ifs that come with things like that script from Tarantino. Perhaps we'll get some updates on the next Kelvin movie in 2026, which would be grand.
