William Shatner Wants to Reprise Captain Kirk for Tarantino’s Star Trek

William Shatner is interested in reprising Captain Kirk for Tarantino’s Star Trek

SYFY Wire brings word that original Star Trek lead William Shatner is interested in reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk in Quentin Tarantino’s R-Rated Star Trek project, should the filmmaker decide to make the movie.

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Shatner said: “If you’re going to do Star Trek, fifty years later, a few pounds heavier, come on, not a problem.” Shatner was joking around about the possibility, noting that he is 88-years-old, but also expressed sincere interest in bringing back his most popular role should he be asked and if he liked the script.

Tarantino has previously said that the reason he loves Star Trek so much is because of Shatner. “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. ‘The Enemy Within’ alone.”

Tarantino recently spoke about the potential Star Trek film, saying that the movie would be “Pulp Fiction in space,” referencing an interview we at ComingSoon.net did with Simon Pegg a year ago!

“I will say one thing about Star Trek that I’ve been waiting for someone to bring up,” said Tarantino. “I don’t know if I’ll do it or not. I’ve got to figure it out, but Mark wrote a really cool script. I like it a lot. There’s some things I need to work on but I really, really liked it. 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. One of the comments he said, he’s like ‘Well, look, it’s not going to be Pulp Fiction in space.’ Yes, it is! [laughs hard]. 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 sh*t 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… But there is a gangster element to what we’re doing with the Star Trek thing that works out pretty good.”

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The script was written by Mark L. Smith, who penned The Revenant. Smith came aboard the project in December of 2017, after which talk of Tarantino’s Star Trek all but ceased while he worked on finishing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

As previously reported, the new take on the Enterprise will shoot for an R rating, a notion that has irked some of Star Trek’s core fanbase. However, last year actor Karl Urban, who plays Dr. McCoy in the newer films, explained that the movie would not earn the harder rating via vulgarity or language, but rather through more gritty realism.

Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is playing now in theaters.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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