All the recent news about the Quentin Tarantino Star Trek project in development at Paramount has gotten the attention of Star Trek’s first captain. As for Tarantino, he has come to a decision about whether a Trek film would count as his 10th and final film.
Shatner shares the love with Tarantino
As he has been promoting his new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, writer/director Quentin Tarantino has also talked about his possible Star Trek film in development at Paramount, including effusing his admiration for the original Captain Kirk, William Shatner. This adoration came to the attention of Mr. Shatner himself, who told Reuters:
Quentin Tarantino said something in the paper that somebody said to me, that he loved me. And Quentin, I love you. If you’re going to do Star Trek, hey, 50 years later, a few pounds heavier, come on, not a problem.
The actor confirmed he is ready to return as Captain Kirk, saying:
I’d like to do it. Whether I’d be up for it, I don’t know.
Watch his comments below.
William Shatner said he'd love to reprise the role of Captain Kirk for Quentin Tarantino's possible ‘Star Trek’ project pic.twitter.com/78ci7iGbnm
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 27, 2019
The latest comments from Tarantino which we posted last week noted how it appears he is interested in doing a film set before Star Trek: The Original Series (in Star Trek’s “Prime Timeline”), but he is also interested in using the actors from the Kelvin Timeline movies, such as Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock). Tarantino has said that Shatner was always his gateway into Star Trek, so it would not be surprising if he found a way to also use the legendary actor in his film if it ever moves from development to greenlight and production.
William Shatner last played Kirk on the big screen in the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations, which featured the death of James T. Kirk. But, there are always possibilities in Star Trek and science fiction, especially when it comes to bringing characters back. If CBS and Star Trek: Picard can bring back Brent Spiner and Data, then Paramount can bring back Shatner’s Kirk for Tarantino’s Star Trek.
James T. Kirk jumped forward in time to meet Captain Picard in Star Trek: Generations
Tarantino decides Star Trek is not a loophole
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is Tarantino’s 9th feature film as a director and he has been firm that he will retire from filmmaking and focus on writing after his 10th. Earlier in the month, Tarantino pondered how Star Trek could fit into his final film plan, noting directing a Star Trek film could possibly be a “loophole” allowing him to direct a Trek film and then another original film. However, upon more reflection, it appears he has decided that there is no Star Trek loophole. Last week Tarantino told EW:
You know, I think it has to count. I think it has to count. A year ago, I was thinking [adopts a pompous auteur voice], Well, okay, if I do Star Trek, naturally my last one would have to be one I wrote. Now, I’m like, ‘No, no, if I want to do Star Trek that much, I need to want to do it that much.’ We’ll see.
The Star Trek project in development at Bad Robot and Paramount was born out of a pitch Tarantino gave to producer J.J. Abrams in late 2017. A script was assigned to writer Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) in 2018. Tarantino has recently said he plans to work on the script with Smith now that his work on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is complete. Even if Tarantino chooses not to direct, Paramount may still be interested in moving forward on the project with another director, with Tarantino as one of the producers. Earlier this year Paramount motion picture group president Wyck Godfrey talked up the possibility of working with Tarantino on a Star Trek film, so the studio sees an opportunity to associate the Oscar-winner with the franchise.
Shatner takes Wrath of Khan tour to Europe
There is a Star Trek movie you can see with Shatner, live and in person. Over the last year, William Shatner has been touring around the country doing screenings and Q&As with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
And this morning Shatner announced he is headed to Europe for more dates in March 2020, starting on March 9th in Glasgow, Scotland. There will also be stops in Dublin, Ireland, Prague, Czech Republic, London, UK, and Cardiff, Wales. For more info, visit williamshatnertour.com.
Europe! I'm actually heading back to the US today from London but I wanted to let you know that I'll be back with a Wrath of Khan Screening Tour in March! Head over to https://t.co/hH55Paf7Ze for more information! See you Next Year! 😘 pic.twitter.com/1EbpN9S4ra
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) July 29, 2019
Keep up with all the upcoming Star Trek movie news at TrekMovie.com.
I don’t see the necessity of Shatner reprising the role again now.
He should have reprised the role, if ever again, about 10 years ago.
Of course considering Star Wars brought back Han Solo for Force Awakens and Star Trek brought back Picard then I kind of see it probably happening. Doesn’t mean it should, no disrespect to Shatner of course.
If they do bring Shatner’s Kirk back then I’d say they might as well try to clean up the Nexus debacle and try to explain that Kirk maybe didn’t die after-all.
I bet Tarantino would love to take on a challenge like this!
The loophole always existed that the Nexus might yet contain Kirk ( because Time is irrelevant in the Nexus ), but any new movie would need to spend significant time explaining Kirk’s revival and it would just take away from the plot/central story of any new film.
Hm, not necessarily actually. Since CBS and Viacom are about to merge…then they could potentially do a limited series with Shatner bringing him back…then Tarantino could do his movie with Shatner’s Kirk without having to worry about that…
I’d say the best option would just be to bring Shatner back as Kelvin Kirk from the future.
Have him as old “Chris Pine” Kirk. This is the only way it would work.
Yep, agreed. Wasn’t that the idea Bob Orci had for his ST III, or am I reading too much into his idea for that film?
He should have returned during TNG’s run. I read once there were very VERY loose talks about it, but Shatner wanted waaaay too much money so it was abandoned before it even got to the point of brainstorming story ideas.
They wanted him on Enterprise in 2004. Bob Orci had a role in mind for the JJ films. But because he always wants too much money, or to be the star, he keeps turning them down.
He’s had many chances, his ego just keeps getting in the way.
That’s actually not true. He’s wanted to come back many times, but they never offered him anything. Some rumors, but it never got far. He never had ANY chances. Not legit ones.
He’s been asked to return several times, but his demands were always too high, so of course no offers were made. It’s his own fault he’s not come back yet.
BringBackKirkPrime,
You are right. Before there was “fake news” there was fanlore. Abrams NEVER offered Shatner the script with the hologram.
Abrams had said in interviews that he never offered it because he believed from what he heard in conventional wisdom, i.e. unsubstantiated fanlore, that it would take something more than mere cameo money to sign him.
This seemed to be based on false cya assertion Berman had related about negotiations for an episode of ENTERPRISE, that went unchallenged until Manny Coto gave an interview revealing what actually occurred.
https://web.archive.org/web/20050325071222/http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/10226.html
”Coto recounted that Shatner pitched the idea [MU episode idea] to him, Brannon Braga and Rick Berman over lunch. They loved it, but Berman pitched an alternative concept, which was actually devised by Mike Sussman.
So Sussman explained that: “Shatner was going to be ‘Chef’ — an ancestor of Kirk. We would find out that at some point in the future the real Kirk got into trouble, got taken out of history. And Daniels would show up, he would grab Archer, he would grab Chef — who of course looked like William Shatner — and say, ‘You have to go to the future and impersonate Captain Kirk in some important ceremony.’ That was the setup.”
“We pitched this to Shatner and there was a long silence,” Coto continued.” — ‘Grand Slam XIII – Sunday Recap’, 03.16.2005, startrek.com
And we all know what CHEF morphed into.
The nexus can EASILY bring Kirk Prime back.
Think about it–when Picard and Kirk exited the nexus, they went to Picard’s past–to a time before Picard entered the nexus, and before Kirk exited. Past Kirk was in the nexus, and present Kirk was fighting Soran. When Soran was defeated, the nexus didn’t hit Veridian, so the energy ribbon passed by with Kirk still in it.
The Kirk inside the nexus is just as real and original as the one that died. The Kirk that died is a time traveler, and wouldn’t simply be erased.
They don’t even have to do this in a movie. They can do a comic book tie in.
Just what we need, Trek to bring back one of the worst concepts in the franchise to revive a character that doesn’t need to be revived…
Agreed.
Tarantino doesn’t have to clean up any canon messes. The man revised actual history for “Inglorious Basterds,” you think he’ll care that Kirk died in “Generations”? And I couldn’t be happier that “Generations” would be given the inattention it deserves. Kirk LIVES!
Only its not Tarantino’s franchise. Inglorious Basterds is a one off movie and there have been tons of alternative history stories, especially for WW 2. That’s pretty common. In Star Trek case though, you have 50 years of canon in a very big franchise and fickle fans. Its not the same thing.
This will be a one off Star Trek movie. If he directs, it will be his 10th and final film. He’s not doing this for sequels.
And he doesn’t have to worry about canon because you guys will make it fit after the fact no matter what he does.
Tiger2,
But even under the original time travel rules, every time they travel into the past it launches an alternate version of history. They may have a memory of how history went before they entered the past which allows them to attempt to repair changes their visit causes to deviate from the history they “learned” but they NEVER restore it 100 percent EXACTLY the way it went the 1st time around.
This is why I think it is utterly ridiculous when I hear fans claim there’s ONE Roddenberry timeline history. Since Gene’s death, there’s been too much Trek time travel into the Prime past. So much so, that it seems absurd to attempt to claim the current corporate Prime timeline history currently conforms significantly to Gene’s original version of it?
That’s why I hate multiverse theory in fiction!It has devastated many franchises by making everything meaningless. There are no stakes anymore. It’s the very worst form of Deus ex Machina.
Shatner still has that voice and wit so it’s possible he could reprise the roll convincingly. Patrick Stewart by comparison has aged more noticeably, especially in his voice. I think you need to tell a very different story as they are doing with Picard. I still don’t think the Terrantino Star Trek movie will ultimately happen, he probably won’t be that interested in fitting this movie into the franchise and I’m sure Paramount won’t make this easy for him.
“and I’m sure Paramount won’t make this easy for him.”
Actually, I’m afraid they will make it very easy for him. Paramount has always followed current trends… following Star Wars to the big screen, doing a prequel when the SW PT happened, doing a (semi)reboot when that was fashionable (Batman, 007) etc…
I think they might be inclined to believe doing an auteur’s movie not connected to the previous continuity is the way to go at this point. Because that’s exactly what’s going on at WB / DC at the moment. They burried their shared universe concept and are going to release (mostly R-Rated) standalone flicks not connected to what used to be mapped out as the DCEU.
They know they can’t compete with Star Wars or the MCU, so they might follow DC here. If that standalone Joker movie thrieves, Paramount will greenlite a non-canon, loose-cannon QT Trek any time soon…
I still think that the return on investment won’t be enough to greenlight a Tarantino Trek project.
Tarantino’s movies are niche products that don’t earn the revenues needed for a special effects heavy cinematic feature.
And I don’t believe for a minute that Tarantino would go for a $120 million sci-fi film for his tenth and last movie.
And while no actor may have turned him down to date, I don’t think that Chris Pine will take a salary cut just because it’s Tarantino.
I think it is pretty safe to say that Tarantino isn’t going to stick to the ten movie thing. He knows there won’t be too many complaints if he “goes back on his word” and makes ten more movies.
The question is how badly does Tarantino want to do ST. He hired Mark Smith to write a script, so he’s at least somewhat interested.
If he WANTS to produce let alone direct a ST movie he and Paramount should begin working out a preliminary deal so that something’s already on paper when the CBS merger (which is likely to throw at least a couple curve balls at the project) happens.
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!
Why not? Let’s say that some of the history hasn’t happened like Cameron’s doing with the Terminator movie. Ignore the last movie he was in. Ignore the JJ stuff.
Worse than anything that’s been happening lately? How could it hurt?
Shatner absolutely deserves to be in this. We deserve to see it.
Yeah! Let’s make it happen.
The Terminator / Halloween approach to “continuity” is exactly what I want Star Trek to avoid. Star Trek used to be great because of its ongoing journey, its continuous development. Minor continuity flaws aside, that has worked for over 50 years now and it would be a pity to flush it down the toilet to please Tarantino’s or Shatner’s ego. They can’t ignore “the JJ stuff” or what transpired in GEN without damaging the franchise for good. They CAN create another new timeline though, but I don’t think QT wants to. If he wants to make this Primeverse, a prequel or sequel to TOS, it needs to fit with that continuity.
The problem is that I can’t imagine anything QT comes up with as either a prequel or sequel to TOS or the movies, not even the KT movies! When those QT rumors started some years ago, all things were pinting at a “Yesterday’s Enterprise” sort of timeloop / alternate reality. That is the ONLY way I can imagine a QT Trek movie to work, both continuity-wise and morality-wise. Only if it’s set in an f’d up timeline, it would give enough leeway for tons of bad language, graphic violence, inhumane behaviour etc.
As a direct Primeverse prequel or sequel, it would cause irreperable damage to everything that’s come before.
That said, it’s still puzzing to me why so many people, including Shatner, seem to love QT’s opus. I simply can’t stand his movies for a multitude of reasons, one being the complete and utter opposite of any visionary take on human advancement… He’s “good” at showing people’s shortcomings in a nihilistic, sarcastic way borderlining caricatures. Unless you share his take on the human condition, there are hardly any redeeming qualities to his work. It’s just about people f’ing up anything they do because of their inherent greed, lust for power or revenge… it’s the complete opposite of GR’s overall vision, no matter if Gene would have loved some naked women on the show.
QT should do a MU movie. Now THAT would be the perfect spot for him to show off his skills. When DISCO launched I used to hate Lorca. If he had been Primeverse, I would have given up on the show. Only when he turned out to be a MU character, the Trek I love was save and sound again… So pleaze, either do a MU installment or create another hellishly screwed up timeline… but leave the moral integrity of the Primeverse alone.
I agree with a lot of your points Garth Lorca.
While I’ve enjoyed some of Tarantino’s films for what they are, they are essentially at 90 degrees to Trek.
And every time I recall the infamous basement scene from Pulp Fiction, I think no way I’ll be risking having my mental image of my favourite franchise be irreversibly contaminated with those kind of images.
Tarantino’s turn as a guest director on Alias was about the end of my time watching that show. Seeing fingers tortured wasn’t necessary for me to feel the risks of a spy show.
I go to Trek for a positive, aspirational experience not nihilism and torture.
Yeah, have to agree with most of your points. Shatner’s Kirk died a long time ago. How many characters can we bring back from the dead. I love Captain Kirk, but another issue I see is Shatner has moved a long way from his days of Kirk. He does what he does today well, but it’s not Kirk anymore. I’m afraid many fans would be disappointed if he returned to it today. He would probably appear almost self-mocking. I think he would appear almost unrecognizable as Kirk in Star Trek today in his mannerisms esp. And, well, his character died a long time ago. Short of making this an alternate universe, after all this time, that’s a bit hard to undo. Just my take
“but leave the moral integrity of the Primeverse alone.”
This is exactly right. I’m tired of the suits who don’t understand Star Trek, because they also don’t understand moral integrity, polluting Star Trek. STD is bad enough but QT? I really have had it.
A relevant quote from Andromeda’s pilot : “Pessimism is not a survival characteristic.”
Even when Roddenberry wrote post Armageddon dystopian SF, it was always about why aspiring and believing in a better future was best.
Same thing for his post WW3 TV pilots Genesis 2 and Planet Earth (both of which I saw long ago as TV movies).
Kurtzman seems to have figured this out, and understands it’s core to the Trek brand.
JJ never did, and from all I’ve seen, Tarantino would need to go through a late career epiphany to begin to wrap his mind around altruism and aspirational Trek values.
Hopefully, the suits in charge will be able to do the calculus to see that neither at the level of the project nor at the level of the brand would it make sense to let Tarantino have his head with Trek.
Personally, I think Tarantino’s idea to use the Kelvin cast in a Prime story is an A+. I enjoy 2/3 of the Kelvin films a similar ratio to the Genesis trilogy (I really dislike STID, and IMO III and IV are both half-great). So no disrespect to KO’s creation of the KU, but come on. WOuldn’t it be great to see Pine and Quinto do the fully matured and un-traumatized Kirk and Spock?
At this point in his life, Shatner would like to be in anyone’s movie.
If Shatner keeps wanted to brink back his Kirk, he should never have agreed to star in GENERATIONS and give us Kirk’s death.
Now, it’s just too late to bring back his Kirk ( as much as I would have LOVED that maybe 25 years ago ).
But at that time the 23rd century was done! I mean how could anyone predict if they would even go back to that era? It took 15 years to finally get back to it in the Kelvin movies and thats not even the same universe.
As far as Trek was concerned back then, there was no plans to go back to the 23rd century, mostly because at the time most people could only see the original actors in that era and they were all mostly done in the acting department by then…except Shatner lol.
This is a point I always bring up. In 1993 he was eager to put the role behind him (ala Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, though not as vehemently)– and was happy with the death of Kirk. He never once fought the studio to keep the character alive, on the contrary, he embraced the idea of killing off his most iconic role.
Well he got what he wanted. Kirk got a nice goodbye, leave it there.
Wow Afterburn, see we can agree on a few things.
If he REALLY wants to return, do it in one of the animated shows.
Afterburn,
What you claim is just as absolutely absurd as the certainty with which you say he must have had for his character’s death.
Why would Shatner, or any other actor that appeared in TWOK for that matter, foolishly believe that their character’s death would be absolutely final, with no chance of reprieve, after what Shatner recounted in the two disc DVD Special Collector’s Edition of STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK about the absolute assurances he’d been given about the certainty of Spock’s death?
Quention Tarantino has said his favourtie episodes are “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and “The City on The Edge of Forever” so his movie could Bring Back Shat in a timey-wimey way??
I’m sick of timey-wimey. We already had VOY and ENT for that.
And now Discovery. ;D
STD’s just been a hot mess in general.
LOL, you sound like season one me. ;)
S2 of STD was a much bigger mess to me. And its attempts to “fix” S1, rather than just move on, I think only contributed to the mess.
Well I said myself the overall Red Angel story line and how the time travel worked with her mother and Section 31 involvement, Control, etc ended up being a HUGE mess lol. It ended up way too convoluted and confusing. That said though it got us into the 32nd century which I’m thrilled about so willing to overlook how it got there, just happy it did.
But when I look at the episodes individually they were much better story wise and mostly felt more like classic Trek opposed to season one which felt like it was trying to be a watered down BSG and not Star Trek. It’s still one of the worst first season shows for me (and I really really hated those Klingons). But that’s clearly just my opinion.
I’m hoping season 3 will be the big improvement like most of the other shows did by their third season.
Aw, c’mon…….slap Shatner in a girdle, CGI the shit out of his face, and prop him up for one last turn as Kirk, before he really DOES bite the dust!
He’d be cheaper after biting the dust. It all DEPENDS on how long they wait…
Yes, Phil, but Shatner has NEVER appeared STIFF on camera!
He’d also be a better actor if he were CGI…
Yes, please!
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it three thousand quatloos (yes, I know that’s currency, shut up)… why someone hasn’t put Shatner in a klingon suit and just let him be a big giant villain is beyond me!
That is an excellent sort of idea!
The movie poster could be the two Kirks, Pine and Shatner, squared up and looking very serious at each other. The two Enterprises going slam bang into each other and either side of that, Klingon ships firing at the two Kirks.
Evil Kirk vs Good Kirk! Do it!
Hate saying it but I think the time has passed for Shatner to jump back into it. Like at this point it wouldn’t feel organic. And maybe that’s because of all the behind the scenes drama surrounding him coming back -the will he/wont he of it all- but it’s been different for Nimoy and Picard and the others who have stepped back into their roles. I just don’t know if I would SEE Kirk in Shatner’s performance or see Shatner being a version of Shatner. Coming off of Trek 6, it never fails, anytime I watch Generations, his performance is less Kirk and more of a version of himself with a few Kirk-isms attached to it. That’s obviously just my opinion but yeah…
The loophole is “The Guardian”
Oh please let this happen. Even if it’s Shatner-Kirk as an old man telling the story of a very important mission n flashback, I don’t care. Screw Generations. It never happened. Kirk is alive. Run with it Quentin. DIRECT THIS MOVIE, PLEEEEASE!
You know what, why not lol! Everyone else who is still working and was a major player in Trek will probably return at some point again now, it could be fun if they came up with a story to bring back prime Kirk. I still think its unnecessary but if they found a fun way to do it, just do it before its too late.
I would like a “Captains” movie Mulgrew talked about a year ago where Janeway, Picard and Kirk all appeared together. I know it wouldn’t happen but if you have to bring him back that would be an interesting way to do it. He has zero attachment in the Kelvin universe. He at least knows Picard now.
It would be much more fun to see everyone BUT him return. Let him twist in the wind. Hopefully it would teach him a proper lesson.
Did Mulgrew leave Sisko out when she brought up this idea?
Actually I can’t recall if she did or didn’t. But if she didn’t its probably because not only due to Sisko leaving in the finale but that she knows Avery Brooks has no interest in coming back to Star Trek.
Ok that makes sense. I wouldn’t know, but I’ll take your word for it that Brooks is done with ST. I had assumed it might be the DS9/Sisko curse playing out again.
Jesus. What did he do, kill your dog?
Zinc Saucie,
Re: Kill your dog?
I know what you mean.
I don’t concede Shatner has been as bad as the picture being painted, but even if it were true in some small way in his past, the man has directed a movie and worked to Emmy award-winning acclaim with ensemble casts in both THE PRACTICE and BOSTON LEGAL, since. There’s ample evidence he’s evolved.
And QT, is MORE than capable of dealing with egos and prima donnas to get what he wants on screen.
Such hatred towards the man who played the greatest character in the franchise is disturbing.
I laughed as soon as I read the title.
Right on schedule, Shatner’s on the prowl. Reminds me of all his…what’s the right word here…exhortation targeted at JJ during the run-up to ST09.
Gotta love the Shat.
As long as he’s drawing breath, he’ll believe he has a few more runs at Kirk in him.
Yup. What a windbag. Desperate to come back to Trek, but unwilling to accept any of the MANY offers he’s gotten to return. I’m sure even if QT offered him a returning part, he’d find a reason to say no.
Afterburn
As I recall, he turned down the role that Bob Orci wrote for him in ST09 because he (Bill) felt it was too much a cameo. The strange part is that, after turning that down, he kept hounding JJ in the media about a role in the movie. And JJ’s reaction was pretty funny. As I read it, JJ was kind of annoyed and a bit exasperated but didn’t want to add fuel to the fire or engender ill will from fans by reacting badly in public. So, he basically played it like he didn’t quite understand what Shatner wanted from him. LOL!
That role was written, but never offered to Mr. Shatner’s so he never had the opportunity to turn it down.
No he was not given a formal offer, but he knew the part was written, and from what I’ve heard, told them he had no interest in a cameo. His ego is part of the problem: he wants to be the star, and get the biggest salary of whatever cast he appears with.
This is clear from many of his comments around the JJ films, where he said a film ‘starring me and Christ Pine would make so much money!’
Afterburn
There’s a world of possibilities between a cameo and the largest, highest-paying role. I don’t know that Shatner wouldn’t be happy with a more substantial role in the story that wasn’t the lead. I mean, he might like to have the biggest part, but might still accept a supporting but more substantial (than a cameo) role.
Lostrod
Ah, OK. Thanks for the correction.
Gotta love that Shat.
My sides are aching! Shatner is ever the salesman.
“Gotta love that bread!” & “God that fresh bread smells good!”
Really, truly – it’s vintage 70s Shatner doing supermarket commercials in Canada.
There he was standing in front of the bakery department with a loaf of white bread in a paper wrapper in each hand, breathing deeply, exhaling and selling it.
Since Shatner is Canadian, he did any number of commercials in Canada to make income without tarnishing his star in the US (in the days before the shopping channel).
But the bread commercial made an indelible impression.
TG47
And the car commercials, too.
I really admire the guy. He had a family, needed to earn a living after TOS was cancelled, and did what he had to do. And he did it with that indubitably Shatner touch. Gotta respect it.
Yah, I do respect it.
Some of those ads were chuckle-worthy, but Shatner seemed to be sharing the humour with us, much as he did with TOS.
I think that people tend to forget that Shatner, like Stewart and several other Trek actors, started out in Shakespearean theatre and have that British tradition of actor work ethic where the important thing is to always be working, with less focus on how a role will affect their brand than seems to be the norm in Hollywood.
I doubt that many outside Canada recognize that Shatner held down principal roles in the Stratford Festival, Canada’s premiere Shakespeare company before moving to the US. More than that, his early work in the US was in 50s film noir for which he got critical more than popular acclaim.
Put in that context, it’s understandable why he took on the role of Kirk to provide for his family, but was ready to move on and do what he needed to when it was cancelled.
In 1973, when I was 18, I was driving home from a poker game when I spotted them filming a Loblaws commercial at a local store in Toronto. I walked in, and there was Shatner doing his thing. I spent the next two hours watching the Shat chew the scenery. Classic!
Of course he would. He’s desperate.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if it took a film most Trek fans DON’T WANT to get him back into the role?
Actually, Shatner’s involvement would be the first thing to shake my faith in a Tarantino Trek.
Not this sudden griping about the “timelines”, the understanding of which I would hardly consider prerequisite to telling a meaningful ST story.
The issues going to be a battle of egos: other actors, such as Stewart (a bonafide star in his own right) have all said they’d do anything to appear in a QT film, citing their love for his work and admiration for his filmmaking. I have not heard Shatner once compliment QT and extend a sincere desire to work with him, so it’s just another “me me me, I want to play Kirk!” appeal.
Even if QT gave him all the salary and screen-time he demands, would Shatner be willing to sublimate his ego to work with Tarantino, or would one of them walk off the set when Shatner demands they rewrite dialog to make Kirk seem more noble, or when QT refuses to not shoot him from behind, or go to extreme lengths to hide his bloated aging gut? Would he refuse to memorize his dialog and make shooting scenes with Samuel L Jackson a nightmare? Would he demand to be a part in editing the film? Would he want billing above Tarantino? Would he demand the studio let him direct the next film as a part of appearing in this one?
These are all things Shatner has done with other actors and directors. Would Quentin Tarantino put up with that nonsense? Other superstar actors have been able to put their egos aside and worked hard to be a part of his films.
I highly doubt William Shatner would.
It’s the same reason I don’t even want anyone to make an “improved” version of Star Trek V (as if it’s even possible to fix that movie). You have no idea what’s going to happen once you involve Shatner.
I really hope, based on his recent comments about Shatner, that Tarantino’s idea for a ST movie (in whatever script Mark Smith has already written) hasn’t involved the possibility of getting Shatner all along.
Yeah. If he’s up to it, I’d love to see it. Don’t even worry about canon anymore. Discovery has happily retconned everything but the kitchen sink at this point. I mean Spock coming on board NCC-1701 as ensign? Robot fighters? If it works for Mr. Shatner and the studio, would love this.
Cool news. But where did you get the info that he‘s coming to Germany? Neither on his Twitter nor on the website…
The two stops in Germany were part of the press release we got this morning. It looks like those dates have since been removed. We’ll try reach out to Shatner’s representatives and ask what happened.
Thanks, Matt! I tried it on his Twitter, but my question will probably not seen. I‘d very much like to know whether I need to fly to Dublin or London instead of staying in Germany. I would much rather invest the money in a photo opportunity with the man.
Tarantino loves to have narration — having Shatner do that would be fine by me. Hopefully he can get him onscreen somewhere, too, though.
Just came back from Reddit and looking at the tepid responses of him wanting to come back maybe it IS too late. This broke the same day we got news Robert Picardo may be in Picard next season.
The ‘likes’ for that is nearly a thousand and 200 responses so far.
Meanwhile news of Shatner wanting to be in the QT movie has around 25 ‘likes’ and 20 responses.
I think either people are getting tired of arguing over it and kind of ‘whatever’ at this point, don’t care about a QT Star Trek movie or just over Shatner in general. Maybe a little of all three.
Alternatively, maybe Reddit is a cesspool.
What do you mean, I post there a lot too….oh right.
I think the Shatner wanting to be in Tarantino’s movie is old news. He said it recently but also said it in the past when the idea first came up of Tarantino Trek. The Picardo story was new. If Shatner were to appear that would be a much bigger story than Robert Picardo appearing on Picard
I think Shatner wanting to be in any Star Trek film is old news at this point lol. But I do agree if he was officially in another movie including this one, obviously it would be big news and bigger than the Picardo story since the last time we even seen him in Trek was before Voyager even aired.
Same time though I don’t think there is a huge base of fans pining to have him back. Even this board seem pretty split on the idea. I mean sure many would be curious and obviously some older TOS fans might welcome it but I have a feeling most have pretty much moved on. And Shatner returning could never be done the way Stewart is returning for so many reasons, the biggest he’s ironically not part of the 23rd century anymore. And even if you did somehow return him to his time most of his co-stars are retired or dead now, so there doesn’t feel like a real purpose because you can’t revive the original TOS anymore. That’s basically done now, especially with Kelly and Nimoy gone (of course his Spock ironically wasn’t in his time or even universe either in the end). But sure it would be interesting to see how they used him and be the captain we know one last time.
True Tiger Shatner returning has been going on for quite sometime. It would be interesting and I doubt QT would leave him out. Can we CGI Nimoy Kelly and Doohan?? I also wish Nichelle would be included but I know she has had some health issues and is doing her farewell convention tour
A QT movie would not be good Trek. I don’t like QT’s movies. As much as I don’t care for JJ’s lack of understanding ST, I’d rather have one of his movies than a QT Trek.
That Twitter leak is sounding more and more accurate: https://mobile.twitter.com/ViewerAnon/status/1139736003881492481
I like that tweet. its exciting!
Wow, liked this line from it.
“The stars would be Chris Pine, William Shatner, and – wait for it – Patrick Stewart. Essentially it’s R-rated STAR TREK AVENGERS.”
So it would be both Kirks AND Picard??? Wow, OK, if true that is interesting. And maybe having the KU characters in prime may not be that bad if they at least acknowledge they are from the Kelvin universe. And if you have both Kirks there I don’t see how you can’t, it would be too confusing otherwise. And Picard back in the films too would be hot news, especially with having his own show again which is the hottest news in Trek right now.
Of course they also called the story Star Trek: Generations 2, which I don’t know how how popular that idea would be lol. Maybe a better version of it at least.
on bbs theres a detailed summary of the supposed Tarantino script..i see the link is on the tweet responses but I stopped reading it as no want spoilers if its the real thing
Well I went and found it, at least what I think you were referring to but so many think it read so over the top and just made up the administrators put it under fan fiction lol. I mean it MIGHT be the real deal but it did read like an over the top fan fiction piece which included TOS characters but mostly Shatner, everyone from Kelvin Universe and most of the TNG crew (even Wesley is there lol). And lots of time travel gimmicks thrown involving the Guardian of Forever and a return of Edith Keeler.
Sorry but if that tweet is based on this ‘story’ then I have to call B.S. on it as well. Its waaaaaay too much going on and I imagine trying to secure all those actors in both Kelvin, TNG and Shatner would make this ridiculously expensive; especially when we know the reason the fourth Kelvin film didn’t happen because they were trying to cut down on costs including salaries. No clue how this would be a cheaper option.
I saw something on Trekbbs a while back claiming to be the script. I wouldn’t know where to find it again, but it was some “godlike” entity telling Kirk that he did not die heroically (in Generations). And yeah, it read like really bad fanfiction. I chose not to believe it was authentic.
Yep, that’s the one I read. ;)
Well he certainly doesn’t need the money, and is more busy and active than some others half his age, to his credit. And as much as I consider Shatner’s Kirk ‘my’ captain, I have to agree with those who say that ship has sailed. Either way, I’m totally on board for QT Trek. Bring it on.
No, he doesn’t need the money, that’s why it will make everyone scratch their heads when he says no to a modest financial offer to appear in a few scenes.
I say just DO IT
He’s bneen talking about it since Enterprise.
Or make an animated show set between The Cage and Generations. Then he can just provide the voice.
It figures lol
Sorry, Shatner haters, Shatner is really open to this one on the strength of Tarantino’s record alone. The man himself even RT’d my plea last night, for him to persuade QT to direct the movie himself. He’s interested.
dmduncan
What’s “RT’d” mean?
Are you saying that Shatner is encouraging QT to direct the movie?
No. William Shatner retweeted my tweet where I posted what QT said about him on Trekmovie, and where I asked him to persuade QT to direct. His comment, added to mine was that he loves QT. So it’s not really encouragement from Shatner of QT to direct, but an amplification of MY message that fans want to see QT direct. RT’s (retweets) do not necessarily mean endorsements of the message being RT’d.
However, the RT and Shatner’s added comment does seem to confirm real interest by Shatner in the project. Whether QT directs it or not, I don’t know if Shatner has a preference but I hope he prefers QT and that in private he would say so directly to QT.
dmduncan
Oh, well congratulations!
I wouldn’t doubt that Shatner has real interest in the movie.
Here’s hoping that QT directs it. It’ll still have the baggage of Bad Robot, but QT taking the helm would mitigate that Badness (pun intended) more than anything else that I can think of, short of Bad Robot being dismissed, which would only happen in my dreams.
Oh I’m not going to lie, it’s awesome being retweeted by William Shatner–the third time he’s retweeted me but who’s counting?
This is the first time it was over Star Trek so that was extra fun.
And he’s a blast to follow on Twitter, as familiar with current and leading edge tech as people 1/3 his age. He’s even got a blockchain project to authenticate signed memorabilia to help prevent fraud.
On Bad Robot: If indeed JJ has given Tarantino license to do whatever he wants with the story, it would be a necessary precondition I think for Tarantino to direct. It’s a good sign that JJ is willing to give QT the space he needs to make the movie he wants, which is the only way this could possibly become The 10th and Final Film by Quentin Tarantino.
Fingers crossed this is IT.
theres a decent chance Tarantino might be left to do it the way he wants/direct as the film series is in a precarious position – the last movie underperformed and was pretty so so. the Thor based ST4 collapsed as no one was too fussed on doing it. and along comes Tarantino offering his services (and coming off the biggest movie of his career)? the one chance to finally make Star Trek truly ‘cool’ for the non Trek loving audience? its a no brainer even for crazy Hollywood that likes to interfere in everything. (it probably wouldn’t be that expensive to make either.. it couldnt be as expensive as the previous 2 films.)
anyway what other option do they have as this point? resurrect Thor Trek with some tv director? ask Pegg to come up with something else? let the series stagnate and then try to come back in 5-7 years?
The other option we are teetering on the edge of is a QT produced Star Trek movie with some TV director, and it will not have the kick of a QT movie.
that would be such a let down even if it was someone like Robert Rodriquez directing. I think Paramount and even Tarantino must realise that.
I remember what happened with Prometheus. Initially Ridley Scott was just going to produce and someone like his son or son in law was going to direct. Then Fox insisted it wanted him to direct.
I’d be cautiously pro Quentin doing this, IF he agreed he’d respect Star Trek and not try to create a sweary ultra-violent grindhouse type of film and force Trek into that avenue. By all means push the limits a little (if mandated naturally by the story – Wrath of Khan was actually pretty violent) if absolutely necessary, but don’t turn Trek into something it’s not. Otherwise, it’s something else with the Trek label slapped upon it. I think this could in theory be an intriguing writing and directing challenge for him, making something reasonably family friendly, respecting Trek, yet exciting, thought provoking and FUN. Fingers crossed – if it comes to fruition (and I have my doubts it will to be honest) it *could* be something very special indeed, particularly if they can get Shatner into the story and undo the disastrous and anti-climactic ‘end’ of his character in Generations. Let’s not create yet another new canon however! ;)
if that how it turns out (QT directing and Shatners Kirk being resurrected somehow) how strange would it be thinking back to 1994 and seeing Pulp Fiction and Generations that year (which I did) – who would ever think in a million years the director of that instant classic/genre defining/massivly influential/hip cooler than cool flick would be directing his own ‘Generations’ style Trek movie with shatner (& stewart?) almost three decades later..ultimately ‘fixing’ what Generations messed up..
we are living in strange, new, exciting times!!
A Star Trek film with Quentin Tarantino and William Shatner would be a dream come true…Make it so!