Director Quentin Tarantino reportedly wants his upcoming "Star Trek" movie to be R-rated for him to agree to work on it, and the producers approve.
According to Deadline, the making of the film has been moving at light speed since the critically acclaimed director first proposed it to JJ Abrams and Paramount. The guys reportedly met for hours in a writers room, together with Mark L. Smith, Lindsey Beer, Drew Pearce, and Megan Amram, to discuss what to do with the cult film's next installment. Tarantino had one major requirement, it has to be R-rated, an Abrams and Paramount agreed.
With this news, it looks like the newest "Star Trek" will go where none of its predecessors have ever been. A sci-fi flick requires a lot of budget, forcing most production companies to limit it to a PG-13 rating at most, to get as many audience as possible. This was reportedly the reason why the Guillermo del Toro film "At the Mountains of Madness," supposedly starring Tom Cruise, did not push through. With a limited audience, producers did not see it economical to continue with the film's $150 million budget.
But for Tarantino, who has been helming R-rated films throughout his successful career, this was a requirement he could not let go. And it looks like the people at Paramount trust him enough to make the most of its surely millions-of-dollar budget.
An R-rated film opens a lot of possibilities for the decades-old franchise. According to reports, the idea is so seductive that "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star Patrick Stewart has shown interest in joining the upcoming installment.
Stewart was an iconic character in the hit franchise, playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stewart said he is a great fan of Tarantino's work and that he has always wanted to work with him. He added that if there was any possibility for him to reprise his role in Tarantino's "Star Trek," he would "embrace it."
