Quentin Tarantino's abandoned plan to direct a James Bond movie resembles the Star Trek 4 idea he also walked away from. The Academy Award-winning writer and director is a genre film aficionado who grew up loving James Bond and Star Trek, two properties that launched as movies and a TV series, respectively, in the 1960s. It's no surprise that Tarantino tried his hand at developing both a Bond movie and a Star Trek movie, although neither came to fruition.
As explained by Bullets & Blockbusters, Quentin Tarantino wanted to direct Casino Royale before the 2006 James Bond reboot starring Daniel Craig and directed by Martin Campbell. However, Tarantino wanted his Casino Royale to star Pierce Brosnan, whose last 007 film was 2002's Die Another Day. Quentin, coming off Kill Bill, intended to bring back Brosnan as 007 and set Casino Royale in the 1960s. However, EON Productions turned down Tarantino's Casino Royale idea and rebooted James Bond with Daniel Craig.
Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek 4 Is Like His Unmade James Bond Movie
Tarantino Wanted 1960s Throwbacks
Quentin Tarantino's Casino Royale idea was echoed over a decade later when the director mounted his version of Star Trek 4. Tarantino's Casino Royale set in the 1960s sounds similar to his plan for Star Trek 4 to be a remake of "A Piece of the Action," an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series that originally aired in 1968. Tarantino's concepts for James Bond and Star Trek are both throwbacks to the 60s. However, Tarantino wanted to film his Casino Royale in black and white, while Quentin's gangster Star Trek 4 movie would presumably have been in color.
Quentin Tarantino came of age loving genre movies and TV shows from the 1960s and 1970s, as evidenced by his nostalgic 2019 hit, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Quentin's preferred Star Trek is Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) set aboard the Starship Enterprise. However, Tarantino loved J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) and felt Chris Pine perfectly embodied Shatner as Captain Kirk. Similarly, Tarantino was enamored with Pierce Brosnan's 007, believing him to be the best James Bond.
Why Quentin Tarantino Didn’t Direct James Bond Or Star Trek 4
Audiences Are Left Wondering What Could Have Been
Quentin Tarantino's James Bond movie didn't happen for a few reasons. EON Productions rejected Tarantino's Casino Royale because the director exercises creative control and final cut over all of his films, and Bond's producers didn't want to cede that much power to Tarantino. Another issue was Tarantino wanting to set Casino Royale in the 1960s. James Bond movies utilize product placement, and sponsors like BMW and Omega wouldn't work in a period setting. Ultimately, Casino Royale turned out to be a full reboot of James Bond, although Tarantino was reportedly upset by the film's prologue being shot in black and white.
Tarantino couldn't reconcile Star Trek as his tenth and final film.
Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek 4 didn't move out of the developmental phase for similar reasons. Paramount Pictures and Tarantino didn't see eye-to-eye on his idea to remake a 1960s gangster episode with Chris Pine's Star Trek movie cast. Further, Tarantino couldn't reconcile Star Trek as his tenth and final film, as Quentin always promised he would only direct ten movies. A Quentin Tarantino-style James Bond movie and Star Trek 4 would no doubt have been entertaining, and both projects are intriguing "What If?" scenarios that audiences will sadly never see.
