Tarantino and Abrams to team up for 'Star Trek' sequel

Visionary film directors Quentin Tarantino and JJ Abrams are planning to assemble a writers’ room to discuss a story idea for the upcoming rebooted “Star Trek” franchise. The “Kill Bill” director has prepared a pitch for a “Star Trek” film and has shared his vision with Abrams, confirmed by a recent report published in the Hollywood Reporter. The two directors have plans on bringing together a writers’ room to develop a film at the Paramount Pictures studio, the distributors of the “Star Trek” films. Tarantino has an eye to direct the potential project. The studio, however, made no comments when asked by the Hollywood Reporter. Abrams rebooted the franchise with 2009's “Star Trek” and also helmed 2013's “Star Trek Into Darkness,” before pivoting to Lucasfilm's “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” However, he remains a producer on the franchise while he readies for 2019's “Star Wars: Episode IX.” Paramount previously stated it was developing a fourth “Star Trek” film, which will star Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk's (Chris Pine) father. But, no director has been attached and it remains unclear where Tarantino’s development would leave the project. The latest instalment, Justin Lin's “Star Trek Beyond” (2016), was well-liked by critics but earned only $343.4 million worldwide, the lowest in the rebooted films. In a 2015 Nerdist podcast interview, Tarantino revealed that he is more likely to direct a “Star Trek” film over a “Star Wars” one, noting he was a big fan of the original series. "The only thing that limited them was their '60s budget and eight-day shooting schedule," he said. "You could take some of the classic ‘Star Trek’ episodes and easily expand them to 90 minutes or more and really do some amazing, amazing stuff." Tarantino called the time-travel-focused “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode - "Yesterday's Enterprise" - as one of the best “Star Trek” episodes ever written. Recently, Sir Patrick Stewart told the Hollywood Reporter that he would be willing to reprise his role as USS Enterprise's Captain Jean-Luc Picard if Quentin Tarantino directs a “Star Trek” movie. Tarantino is currently working on an untitled film on the infamous American criminal and cult leader, Charles Manson, which is due to be released in 2019.