Simon Pegg has pulled back the curtain on what might have been one of Hollywood’s most audacious sci-fi crossovers: Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek movie. Speaking at Fan Expo Boston over the weekend, the actor—who played Scotty in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot trilogy—shared tantalizing details about the project, which he described as “everything you would expect a Quentin Tarantino Star Trek script to be.”
A Gangster Planet and a Director’s Dilemma
According to Pegg, Tarantino’s vision was rooted in The Original Series’ 1968 episode “A Piece of the Action,” where the Enterprise crew encounters a planet mimicking 1920s gangster culture. The film would have expanded that premise into a full-blown 1930s-style mob saga—complete with Tarantino’s signature dialogue, violence, and nonlinear storytelling.
But the project ultimately stalled over Tarantino’s existential hesitation. Screenwriter Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) revealed in 2023 that the director agonized over whether Star Trek should be his final film (per his long-stated plan to retire after 10 movies). “If I can just wrap my head around the idea that ‘Star Trek’ could be my last movie… is this how I want to end it?” Tarantino mused, per Smith. The answer, apparently, was no.
“A Batshit Crazy Curio”
Pegg, who got a breakdown of the script from Abrams and producer Lindsey Weber, admitted the film would have been polarizing. “I don’t know how it would have gone over with the fans,” he said, “but it certainly would have been an interesting thing.”
The actor’s comments echo past reports that Tarantino’s take was R-rated and dialogue-heavy—far removed from Abrams’ action-driven Kelvin timeline. Still, Pegg believes it could have been a fascinating artifact: “I think it would have been such an incredible curio to see ‘Star Trek’ through his lens.”
What Could Have Been
Announced in 2017, the project had Paramount’s blessing and a completed script by Smith, but it joined the graveyard of unmade Tarantino films (Kill Bill: Vol. 3, Double V Vega). For now, the Star Trek franchise moves forward with Star Trek 4 (still in development) and streaming shows—leaving fans to wonder what might have been if cinema’s most volatile auteur had beamed aboard.
One thing’s certain: It would have been anything but standard Starfleet protocol.
The Pop Blog general news and updates, mostly from press releases and conferences.