Quentin Tarantino’s Unmade Star Trek Movie: The Original Series Episode Adaptation

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A film adaptation of a classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode, directed by Quentin Tarantino, would have been an incredible movie. For a short time, the famous director was interested in making a more mature, R-rated Star Trek 4.

Many of the Star Trek films have drawn ideas from episodes of the original TV show. For example, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was based on a story called “In Thy Image” that Gene Roddenberry had written for a planned second Star Trek television series which was never made.

Director Nicholas Meyer used the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Space Seed” as the basis for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, bringing back the villain Khan Noonien Singh (played by Ricardo Montalban) to pursue revenge against Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner).

The most popular film based on Star Trek: The Next Generation is Star Trek: First Contact. It continued the story from the episode “The Best of Both Worlds,” where Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-E worked together to protect Earth from the Borg and a complicated time travel scheme.

But Quentin Tarantino envisioned something else: a movie directly based on a classic episode of the original 1960s Star Trek series, with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto playing Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. His plan was to create a standalone film that wouldn’t connect to the three previous Star Trek movies directed by J.J. Abrams.

Quentin Tarantino Wanted To Make This Star Trek: The Original Series Episode Into A Movie

You won’t believe this, but Quentin Tarantino actually pitched a really gritty, R-rated Star Trek movie! He wanted to base it on a classic episode from the original series, “A Piece of the Action.” He described his vision as Pulp Fiction… but set in space. Can you imagine?! It would have been wild.

In the Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action,” Captain Kirk and the Enterprise visited the planet Signa Iota II, where the people had developed a society based on the American gangster culture of the 1920s. Kirk and Spock found themselves caught in the middle of a mob war, complete with pinstripe suits and machine guns, until Kirk was able to broker an agreement between the planet’s inhabitants and the United Federation of Planets.

The Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action” is known for being one of the show’s most playful and unusual installments. It cleverly uses sets and costumes borrowed from gangster films made at Paramount Studios, making it a particularly memorable Star Trek classic – and a perfect fit for the style of director Quentin Tarantino.

As a huge film fan, I was really excited when I heard Tarantino and J.J. Abrams were teaming up! They started working on a script back in 2019, bringing in Mark L. Smith as the initial writer. But, being Tarantino, he had his own ideas and felt he could polish the script even further. What I found especially cool was that he definitely wanted the original ‘Star Trek’ cast – Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock – to be involved in the project. It would have been amazing to see what he’d do with those characters!

Quentin Tarantino had a different vision for his potential Star Trek movie. While J.J. Abrams, who oversaw the recent films, suggested Tarantino disregard the established alternate timeline, Tarantino preferred to set his story before the events of the original Star Trek series, essentially creating a prequel.

Why Quentin Tarantino Didn’t Make His Star Trek Movie

Quentin Tarantino ultimately decided not to direct a new Star Trek movie, despite strong support from J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures for his unique take on the franchise. He had been planning a gangster-style story for Star Trek 4.

Quentin Tarantino originally intended to direct ten films and then retire. His 2019 movie, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, was his ninth, and he planned for Star Trek 4 to be his tenth and final project.

Quentin Tarantino didn’t want his directing career to end with a Star Trek movie. He even thought about ways to consider it his ninth film instead of his tenth, but ultimately, in December 2019, he decided not to direct it.

At the same time, Paramount explored several different ideas for Star Trek 4 with various directors, including S.J. Clarkson and Matt Shakman. However, those plans also stalled due to disagreements about the story. One concept even involved bringing Chris Hemsworth back as George Kirk, Captain Kirk’s father, to appear alongside his son.

Star Trek 4 Is A Dead Movie

By 2026, Star Trek will celebrate its 60th anniversary, but there are currently no plans for a new movie in theaters. It will have been a full decade since Star Trek Beyond—the last Star Trek film featuring Chris Pine and the USS Enterprise crew—was released, and many believe that film concluded their story.

A recent article in Variety about Paramount Skydance, led by CEO David Ellison, revealed that the studio is planning a new ‘Star Trek’ movie, but won’t be using the cast from the J.J. Abrams films – meaning Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the rest of that team won’t be returning. This effectively cancels ‘Star Trek 4’ as it was previously envisioned, and the studio is now pursuing a completely new direction.

In early 2024, Paramount revealed plans for a Star Trek Origin film, intended as a prequel to the Star Trek movies directed by J.J. Abrams, with Toby Haynes set to direct. However, the project never moved forward. Additionally, screenwriter Steve Yockey was brought in to work on a new draft of Star Trek 4, which ultimately joined other abandoned ideas for that film. Simon Kinberg, a producer known for the X-Men franchise, was then hired to help guide future Star Trek movies.

Paramount Skydance is focusing heavily on both Star Trek films and TV shows. Fans are hoping for a new movie by 2026, but it appears Quentin Tarantino is no longer involved in the project. Despite abandoning his film The Movie Critic and exploring other options for his final movie, a Star Trek film directed by Tarantino is now unlikely.

Quentin Tarantino almost made a Star Trek movie, and it’s become a legendary missed opportunity for fans. Seeing the classic Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action,” which features gangsters, makes you imagine how cool Tarantino’s take on Star Trek would have been – picturing Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock in suits and with machine guns is a fun thought!

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2025-11-08 14:30