Paramount considered Quentin Tarantino for ‘Star Trek 4’ as gimmick
A NY Times post examines the plight of Paramount and how the studio is in a real battle: “Today, Paramount is fighting for its very existence.”
“Almost slapstick mismanagement by Viacom — cleaving off a lucrative TV business, firing the horror maestro Jason Blum, missing the opportunity to buy Marvel Entertainment, describing Steven Spielberg as “completely immaterial” — has left Paramount on life support.”
Spielberg keeps cranking out Oscar worthy films and the big blockbuster Ready Player One, Jason Blum is hitting home runs like Split, Glass, the new Halloween and then there’s Marvel…well, nuff said.
In September 2017 Paramount hired one of Hollywood’s top producers, Wyck Godfrey (Twilight saga), as president of the film division. Supporting Godfrey are new marketing, publicity and animation chiefs.
The Times notes:
Godfrey is working to breathe life into the tired “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Terminator,” “Star Trek” and “G.I. Joe” franchises. Paramount also has high hopes for films tied to Viacom’s cable networks, including “Dora the Explorer,” a live-action, big-screen adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon…
Imagine, for instance, Paramount giving “Star Trek” to Quentin Tarantino. “Suddenly people’s eyes light up,” Mr. Godfrey said. “Yours just did.”
Got that.
Get attention and well…now we don’t have a Trek 4.
Paramount has been on a roll: Mission Impossible: Fallout was one of the best films in 2018 and Christopher McQuarrie is locked in for two new films. Bumblebee is the best Transformers film in the franchise and has garnered a new look at sequel(s) and further reboots — WITHOUT MICHAEL BAY.
There is A Quiet Place, a box office smash which was snubbed by the Oscars.
While there is work to be done at Paramount, the ship may be headed in the right direction. That said, a Tarantino Trek film seems like the biggest bad idea in the toolbox of bad ideas.
