Latest rumors have Tarantino distancing himself from directing Star Trek

Tarantino fans who'd been looking forward to the filmmaker's R-rated take on the Star Trek franchise might want to set their phasers to "disappointment," because a recent interview with the ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD helmer has revealed that he's had no recent talks with Paramount Pictures about the rumored "pie in the sky" project.

A short time ago, Tarantino spoke with Consequence of Sound about his plans for the future, of which involve writing a play as well as a five-episode television series. It's also worth noting that, last week, Tarantino teased the possibility of one day returning to his KILL BILL series for his next feature-length film. In fact, when speaking with Andy Cohen for the host's Radio Andy show, Tarantino stated that a third chapter of the Kill Bill saga is "definitely in the cards."

Here's what Tarantino had to say on Andy Cohen's program:

"I do have an idea of what I would do with it. That was the whole thing, conquering that concept. What's exactly happened to the Bride, right, and what do I want to do? I wouldn't want to just come up with some cockamamie adventure. She doesn't deserve that. Now I actually have an idea that could be interesting."

Shortly thereafter, Cohen addressed Tarantino's desire to remove himself from major motion picture filmmaking, and asked if we'd be seeing another feature from him before the possibility of concentrating on another Kill Bill.

Tarantino responded by saying "No. Not a movie. I don't know what I'm going to do. When I wrote Once Upon a Time in Hollywood … I kind of had more to do. So, I wrote a play and then I wrote a five-episode TV series. In some degree or another, I've kind of written what I'm gonna do for the next three years. After that, I'll get around to what my next movie will be."

And now, back to the matter at hand. When speaking with Consequece of Sound, Tarantino revealed the following about his forever in-flux filmmaking agenda:

“One of the things that [Once Upon a Time in] Hollywood has done is that it has made me feel like I’ve made my big statement on Hollywood and that there is the accumulation of a career, accumulation of my interest, accumulation of the filmography,” Tarantino said. “If the idea that all the films are a boxcar and it’s all one train, they’re all telling one story. Well, this is the climax, so I can actually see now my 10th movie probably being a little smaller. You know, an author’s note. And look, I might come up with a really big idea. But right now, the idea of a smaller audience almost all the way around is appealing to me.”

While I've been of the mind that Tarantino's Star Trek project will never see the light of day, I must admit that I was surprised to hear that it already has a script penned by THE REVENANT writer Mark L. Smith. As I'd previously noted, Tarantino's Star Trek would have been built as an R-rated affair, an element of the endeavor that floated like a lead balloon for fleets-worth of hardcore Trekkies. At the very least, Karl Urban, who plays Dr. McCoy in the newest Star Trek film series, insisted that should Tarantino's Star Trek receive an R-rating, that it would be due to the film's realism as opposed to expletive-filled exploits among the stars.

How do you feel about Tarantino moving away from the Star Trek universe? Does the idea of an R-rated film in the franchise intrigue you, or would you rather keep things PG-13, and perhaps see what another filmmaker can do with the property? I must admit that I'm very much a creature of morbid curiosity, and would be interested to see what a mature Star Trek movie would look like. That said, I think a smaller film for Tarantino's tenth sounds more in line with what he wants to do, and I would never deny someone the opportunity to create something original as opposed to yet another installment of a franchise that already has so much history.

What say you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.