Quentin Tarantino rips Simon Pegg for acting like he knows R-rated "Star Trek" details

"He doesn’t know anything about what’s going on," Tarantino tells Deadline of the franchise actor

Published July 18, 2019 3:33PM (EDT)

Quentin Tarantino speaks during a press conference for the film "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2019 (Getty/Sébastien Berda)
Quentin Tarantino speaks during a press conference for the film "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2019 (Getty/Sébastien Berda)

This article originally appeared on IndieWire.
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Quentin Tarantino isn’t sure he’s going to direct an R-rated “Star Trek” just yet, but he is sure that franchise actor and writer Simon Pegg doesn’t know any of the details about the potential tentpole. Speaking to Deadline, Tarantino ripped Pegg for acting like he knows about his plan for a potential R-rated “Star Trek” movie. Back in 2018, Pegg said Tarantino would be faithful to the franchise and not be making the “Star Trek” equivalent of “Pulp Fiction.” Tarantino said that’s not true.

“I get annoyed at Simon Pegg. He doesn’t know anything about what’s going on and he keeps making all these comments as if he knows about stuff,” Tarantino told Deadline. “One of the comments he said, he’s like, ‘Well, look, it’s not going to be “Pulp Fiction” in space.’ Yes, it is! If I do it, that’s exactly what it’ll be. It’ll be ‘Pulp Fiction’ in space. That ‘Pulp Fiction’-y aspect, when I read the script, I felt, I have never read a science fiction movie that has this shit in it, ever. There’s no science fiction movie that has this in it. And they said, I know, that’s why we want to make it. It’s, at the very least, unique in that regard.”

Pegg has starred as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott since J.J. Abrams’ 2009 “Star Trek” reboot, reprising the character in follow-up films “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Star Trek Beyond.” The latter film, directed by Justin Lin, was co-written by Pegg and Doug Jung.

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The R-rated “Star Trek” movie was written by “The Revenant” scribe Mark L. Smith. Tarantino said he “really, really likes” the idea and will work on punching up the script himself after he’s done promoting “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” From there, Tarantino will decide if he wants to direct the project himself. The filmmaker said there is a “gangster element” to Smith’s screenplay that makes this “Star Trek” idea unique. As for the R rating, Tarantino thinks it’s generating more buzz than needed.

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“I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal but if I’m going to do it, then I’m going to do it my way,” Tarantino said. “If you’ve seen my nine movies, you kind of know my way is an R-rated way and a way that is without certain restrictions. So that goes part and parcel. I think it would be more controversial if I said I’m going to do a PG movie and it’s going to fit exactly in the universe. It’s not me. What the fuck am I doing?”

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Tarantino credited the success of “Deadpool” for making it clear to Paramount and producer J.J. Abrams that R-rated tentpoles can be huge box office winners. “Even before J.J. knew what the idea was, his feeling was, if it wants to be an R rating, fine,” Tarantino said. “If it wants to be the ‘Wild Bunch’ in space, fine.”

Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” opens in theaters nationwide July 26 from Sony.

 


By Zack Sharf

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