WHERE NO TARANTINO HAS GONE BEFORE

Deadline recently reported that Quentin Tarantino, the director of the “Kill Bill” movies and Oscar-winning films such as “Django Unchained” and “Pulp Fiction,” had pitched an idea for a new “Star Trek” film to the movie studio Paramount. Last Thursday, Deadline reported that the project was moving at warp speed, and the search for a screenwriter is on.  JJ Abrams, the director of the first two “Star Trek” films and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” has been beamed on board as the producer. According to Deadline, Tarantino proposed the film to Paramount as a “Star Trek” but done in his unique style. This “style” tends to include an exasperating amount of blood (think the candy-land massacre from “Django Unchained”), vicious shootouts, and quotable dialogue. But before he directs the “Star Trek” film, he first has to finish his film about the Manson family (currently with the working title of “Helter Skelter”) so it will be a couple years before we get to see the finished product. Contenders for writing the Tarantino space odyssey include Lindsey Beer, Drew Pearce, and Megan Amram, however “The Revenant” screenwriter Mark L. Smith is the front runner. What is probably most shocking to fans is that Paramount and JJ Abrams both agreed to Tarantino’s one demand: that it be rated R. While it used to be blasphemy to even suggest giving a blockbuster and R-rating, the success of films such as “Logan,” “Deadpool,” and “It” have since changed many studios feelings on the rating. During an interview, Patrick Stewart stated that he’d love to return to the franchise if Tarantino was on board. “One of my dreams is to work with Tarantino. I admire his work so much, and to be in a Tarantino film would give me so much satisfaction. So, if he is going to direct something to do with Star Trek and there was the possibility of dear old Jean-Luc showing up again and doing that for Mr. Tarantino, I would embrace it.”