Quentin Tarantino really wants to make a Star Trek movie, and it sounds like he wants to make it in the original timeline but with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock. Would that leave any room for the original TV Captain Kirk, William Shatner? Shatner and Tarantino are in a mutual admiration society, and Shatner sounds excited for QT's Trek vision. Here's what the Star Trek icon said in a recent video interview:
Quentin Tarantino said something in the paper that somebody said to me, that he loved me. [looks into camera] And Quentin, I love you. If you're going to do Star Trek 50 years later, a few pounds heavier, come on. Not a problem!
However, as William Shatner added to Reuters, there may actually be a problem -- and no, it's not that his Kirk already died in Star Trek Generations, it's related to the actor's own health:
Well, I'd like to do it. Whether I'd be up for it, I don't know.
William Shatner said it with a laugh, as you can see in the clip below, but let's remember that he's 88-years-old. William Shatner recently marveled that Patrick Stewart would be willing to return to TV as Star Trek's Picard, since Stewart is 79 and a TV schedule can be punishing. But a film? It would be great if Quentin Tarantino could fast-track his Star Trek film and find some kind of role for Shatner, even if it's just a nod to the past.
This isn't the first time William Shatner has piped up when it comes to Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek plans. Shatner previously defended QT's idea of an R-rated approach to Star Trek, making a comparison to Star Trek: Discovery.
As for Quentin Tarantino saying he loves William Shatner? Well, he recently gushed about the guy, singling him out as the reason why he likes Star Trek more than Star Wars:
I’m a big fan of the show Star Trek. I really like it a lot, but my portal into that show is William Shatner. I love William Shatner on Star Trek. I love his performance as James T. Kirk. That is my connection. That is my umbilical cord. It’s why I like Star Trek more than Star Wars, because William Shatner’s not in Star Wars. I think it’s one of the greatest performances in the history of episodic television, of a series lead, and rightly so, because very few series leads have ever gotten the opportunity to play all the different wild, crazy things.
Quentin Tarantino clearly loves William Shatner and his performance as Kirk. He also praised Chris Pine's performance as a direct tie to Shatner:
The reason I was actually intrigued by the JJ Abrams version of it is because I thought Chris Pine did a fantastic job not just playing Capt. Kirk but playing William Shatner’s captain — he is William Shatner. He’s not just another guy, he’s William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk. And it’s literally, Zachary Quinto is literally Leonard Nimoy’s — because they both have the same scene together — he’s his Spock. They fucking nail it. They just nail it.
Quentin Tarantino is currently enjoying his best opening weekend ever with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but there's definitely excitement about what he might do next with this Star Trek movie. Apparently his pitch to J.J. Abrams was "bananas," at least according to Karl Urban.
So Star Trek is what's next on QT's plate after his current movie finishes its run. What do you think about William Shatner joining the movie somehow, and in what capacity?
