Tarantino Just Took A Vicious Shot At Simon Pegg
Famed director Quentin Tarantino is keen on taking the Star Trek franchise to a place it's never been before, but one thing — or rather, one person — is throwing off his groove.
In a recent interview with Deadline, Tarantino got to talking about his in-the-works Star Trek film, for which he has a very specific vision. He wants it to be R-rated, as is standard for the violence-and-vulgarity-favoring filmmaker, and every bit as bold and bombastic as his past works. Someone who apparently doesn't get what Tarantino is hoping to do with his Star Trek film is actor Simon Pegg, whom Tarantino fired a vicious shot at.
Tarantino got incredibly candid when he shared that he gets "annoyed at Simon Pegg," known in the Star Trek film franchise as USS Enterprise engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, for acting like he has any idea what Tarantino's plans really are.
"He doesn't know anything about what's going on and he keeps making all these comments as if he knows about stuff. One of the comments he said, he's like, 'Well, look, it's not going to be Pulp Fiction in space.' Yes, it is!" said Tarantino, laughing when recalling the encounter he found irritating. "If I do it, that's exactly what it'll be. It'll be Pulp Fiction in space. That Pulp Fiction-y aspect, when I read the script, I felt, I have never read a science fiction movie that has this s*** in it, ever. There's no science fiction movie that has this in it. And they said, 'I know, that's why we want to make it.' It's, at the very least, unique in that regard."
For those who are lost here, Pegg previously made comments about Tarantino's potential R-rated Star Trek film during a red carpet interview with HeyUGuys. He told the outlet in March 2018 that he didn't think Tarantino actually wrote a script for the film, but rather approached Star Trek reboot franchise architect J.J. Abrams "with an idea he's had for a while." Pegg continued, "He just put it to J.J. and I think J.J.'s just considering putting it into a writing room. We got an email just saying, 'Guess what? Guess who came into the office the other day?' So, I don't know much about it other than it's in the mix, so we'll see."
Pegg remarks about Tarantino's Star Trek probably not being Pulp Fiction with a space-centric bend came in May 2018, when the actor spoke with ComingSoon.net about the future of the franchise. Of the project Tarantino was working on, Pegg said, "Everyone sort of assumes it's gonna be like Pulp Fiction in space, but I think his devotion to Trek and his understanding of it... It won't be ordinary, it'll have him all over it, but it won't be anything a Star Trek fan will have to worry about. He has an acute understanding of the story and he'd never do anything to tear it down. I haven't read the treatment yet, but I might be able to in the next couple of weeks, so I'm excited about that."
From our perspective, these comments sound less like Pegg criticizing Tarantino's ideas and more like him acknowledging the director's appreciation for the franchise. Still, they clearly rubbed Tarantino the wrong way.
In Pegg's defense, there is a lot of ambiguity and uncertainty surrounding the Star Trek flick in question — including whether Tarantino will even direct it, which actors might board to reprise their roles, when it will be released, what the story will be, and if it will serve as the fourth Star Trek film or a separate entry into the franchise that stands apart from the rest. With all those questions swirling around the project, it would be hard not to get mixed up. And when dealing with a director known for his blunt, no-nonsense, say-it-like-you-mean-it attitude, it seems inevitable that some unsavory words would get slung your way if you upset him.
While Pegg ruffled Tarantino's feathers, the director still has his fingers crossed that everything will work out and he can direct the Star Trek film after he edits the script that's already in place. He told Deadline, "I will say one thing about Star Trek that I've been waiting for someone to bring up: I don't know if I'll do it or not. I've got to figure it out, but Mark [L. Smith] wrote a really cool script. I like it a lot. There's some things I need to work on but I really, really liked it."
Tarantino isn't known for skirting around profanity or violence, and he's made it clear that if he's going to do Star Trek, he's going to do it his way — no matter what anyone has to say about it. "If you've seen my nine movies, you kind of know my way is an R-rated way and a way that is without certain restrictions. So that goes part and parcel," he said. "I think it would be more controversial if I said I'm going to do a PG movie and it's going to fit exactly in the universe. It's not me ... As long as Paramount likes the idea and the script they almost got nothing to lose right now when it comes to Star Trek."
You heard it here: prepare for an expletive-filled, R-rated, wholly unique Star Trek film with "a gangster element" should Tarantino ultimately bring the project to fruition.