Simon Pegg ‘Doesn’t Know Much About’ Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Star Trek,’ Downplays R Rating Rumor

The idea of Quentin Tarantino spearheading an R-rated “Star Trek” movie excited fans when the rumor first broke last December, but “Trek” star Simon Pegg wants everyone to know that a rumor is all it is for now. The actor spoke with Hey U Guys (via ScreenCrush) on the 2018 Empire Award’s red carpet and downplayed the rumor by saying he did not think Tarantino was behind an R-rated “Trek.”

“I don’t think [Quentin Tarantino has] written an R-rated ‘Star Trek’ script,” Pegg said. “I think what happened is he went to J.J. [Abrams] with an idea that he’s had for awhile. I remember he told us about it a long time ago. I think he told me and Edgar [Wright] about it a long time ago. He just put it to J.J. and I think J.J.’s just considering putting it into a writing room. We got an email just saying ‘Guess what? Guess who came into the office the other day?’ So I don’t know much about it other than it’s in the mix, so we’ll see.”

Pegg’s comment corroborates nicely with the December report that Tarantino had successfully pitched his “Trek” idea to Abrams and Paramount Pictures. However, Tarantino is not actually writing the script himself. Paramount confirmed at the end of 2017 that “The Revenant” scribe Mark L. Smith was hired to pen the screenplay based on an Tarantino’s idea. The plan is for Smith to write the film while Tarantino films “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” this spring and summer. The early word is that Tarantino is planning to direct should Smith’s script be approved.

The film is still in the earliest stages of development, so it’s not entirely worrisome that Pegg “doesn’t know much” about the details at this point. Pegg co-wrote the franchise’s last installment, “Star Trek Beyond.”