During a lengthy interview with Deadline, writer/director Quentin Tarantino seemingly suggested that he indeed won’t be directing the Star Trek project he was cooking up with screenwriter Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) as a possible directing venture.

However, doesn’t rule out giving them notes and advice on the project.

DEADLINE: Did you officially decide not to direct the Star Trek film you put in motion, the one written by The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith?

TARANTINO: I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it. It’s a good idea. They should definitely do it and I’ll be happy to come in and give them some notes on the first rough cut.

This wouldn’t be terribly shocking news given that the writer/director has declared on multiple occasions he wants to end his feature film directing career at ten movies, I never really saw him wanting to end with a Star Trek film.

There is also the recent news that Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion, Lucy In The Sky) had been hired by Paramount to take the reigns on Star Trek 4 as writer/director.

Timing could also be factor as Tarantino is going to be spending a bunch of his time on other things before returning to feature film directing, Paramount might not be willing to wait on what-ifs.

Tarantino also hints that Sony Pictures would likely be distributing his 10th and final film, whatever that looks like. Along with reaffirming his other plans, which he has revealed includes a television miniseries version of Bounty Law (he has already started writing) and a play.

DEADLINE: Tom Rothman said this morning he hoped after all the success and hard work by his studio, that Sony Pictures would be in a favorable position to distribute what looks to be your final film…

TARANTINO: Oh, that’s for sure. I have no idea what that’s going to be. I have a couple things I want to do before the next movie.

You can’t really blame Tarantino considering how well the marketing and press tour has gone for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, thanks to Sony Pictures’ involvement leading to 10 Academy Award nominations including Best Director and Best Picture.

He also mentioned that a lot of of the next year or two could be dedicated to Bounty Law, his spinoff series featuring Rick Dalton’s Jake Cahill.

TARANTINO: As far as the Bounty Law shows, I want to do that, but it will take me a year and a half. It got an introduction from Once Upon a Tim in Hollywood, but I don’t really consider it part of that movie even though it is. This is not about Rick Dalton playing Jake Cahill. It’s about Jake Cahill. Where all this came from was, I ended up watching a bunch of Wanted, Dead or Alive, and The Rifleman, and Tales of Wells Fargo, these half-hour shows to get in the mindset of Bounty Law, the kind of show Rick was on. I’d liked them before, but I got really into them. The concept of telling a dramatic story in half an hour. You watch and think, wow, there’s a helluva lot of storytelling going on in 22 minutes. I thought, I wonder if I can do that? I ended up writing five half-hour episodes. So I’ll do them, and I will direct all of them.

We still have no idea what Quentin will ultimately make for his 10th and final film.

In the past, he has mused about tackling a gangster film and 1930s era bank-robbing film (has mentioned Pretty Boy Floyd). I’d have to assume in the vein of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In America and Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, two of Quentin’s directing idols that have covered the genre.

After the recent heat on Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, I have to assume it could light a fire under Tarantino to dabble in another period film and cover a more hard-nosed gangster film could be fun as a final outing.

Considering his previous films like Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Pulp Fiction really didn’t cover the characters’ criminal operations/empires mostly just the fallout of being criminals it could be interesting to see him make something on the scale of Godfather or Scarface.

We’ll just have to wait until he completes his other projects to learn what he’ll do for that final film.

SOURCE: DEADLINE