Quentin Tarantino Confirms His Star Trek Movie Will Be R-rated, Full of Profanity

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Quentin Tarantino confirms his Star Trek movie will be R-rated and contain lots of profanity. Many were surprised when it was announced the fan-favorite auteur was developing a new film in the iconic sci-fi franchise, which typically looks to appeal to a wider, more general audience (on the movie side, anyway). Tarantino is one of the most popular big-name directors working today, but his films tend to be heavy on bloody violence, colorful language, and other hallmarks that wouldn't necessarily jive with Star Trek on the surface. But it's also those unique sensibilities that have some believing Tarantino could give Star Trek the shot in the arm it desperately needs.

Ten years ago, Star Trek reached a new level of viability when the first of the J.J. Abrams reboots made its way into theaters. Sadly, just a handful of years later, the Kelvin Timeline is basically defunct. After 2016's Star Trek Beyond underwhelmed at the box office (despite earning positive reviews), a fourth film never came into fruition. Paramount pulled the plug on the project earlier this year, but Tarantino's Trek remains on the table for the time being. And the director is already teasing it'll fit right in line with the rest of his filmography.

Speaking with Empire, Tarantino provided updates on his Star Trek movie. He enthusiastically responded, "Oh yeah!" when asked if it would feature profanity. Confirming what's already been reported, Tarantino also stated the movie will be gunning for an R rating:

“It’s an R-rated movie. If I do it, it’ll be R-rated... There’s a script that exists for it now. I need to weigh in on it, but I haven’t been able to do that yet.”
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The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith was hired to pen the script for the new Star Trek back in December 2017. Tarantino has been busy working on his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (due in theaters this July), so he hasn't had much time to dedicate to Trek. Once Hollywood is in the rearview mirror, Tarantino can then hop aboard the Enterprise and start ironing out is first sci-fi feature. If Tarantino does call the shots on Star Trek, it would mark his tenth directorial effort, and in the past he's talked about retiring after making 10 films. He has indicated he would extend his career by one movie specifically for Star Trek, so perhaps he would direct another original movie as a career sendoff.

As exciting a proposition this is, there are still a lot of factors that need to be determined. Namely, there's some confusion over whether or not it would feature the main Kelvin Timeline cast. Reports indicated Tarantino's movie would be a standalone feature free from any pre-established continuity, but Zachary Quinto (who played Spock in the Kelvin films) said the Abrams cast would be returning. It's worth mentioning those actors are game to return for another ride on the Enterprise, and the ensemble is one of the most-praised elements of the Kelvin Timeline. If the Original Series crew is part of Tarantino's script, then they should be brought back for one more Star Trek movie.