Quentin Tarantino says Death Proof bombing was ‘shock to my self-esteem’ and discusses lack of sex in his films

Quentin Tarantino went out on a book tour for his Film speculationand in an interview with Spain’s Diari ARA, he talked about his 2017 film Proof of death and how the box office bombing came as a shock to her confidence.

Proof of death was part of the house double feature of Grindhouse which he also presented Roberto Rodríguez’S Terror planet. Proof of death was definitely the better film of the two, and it centered around a Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), “a professional impersonator who likes to take unsuspecting women on deadly journeys in his spare time. He has modified his car for maximum impact; when Mike intentionally causes wrecks, bodies pile up as he walks away with barely a scratch. Crazy Mike might be out of his mind, though, when he takes on a tough group of girlfriends, including a real-life stuntwoman Zoe Bell (who served as Uma Thurman’s stunt double Kill Bill), who plays herself.”

Speaking about the film and how it affected him and his career, Tarantino explained:

“I have been fortunate to write stories that have connected many people, and this has allowed me to practice my craft without the restrictions that most filmmakers have. Now, a funny thing happened: I got a lot of project pitches for a while, until the studios ended up assuming I was doing my own stories and it wasn’t worth it. But after ‘Death Proof’, which didn’t do well at the box office and was a bit of a shock to my confidence, I started getting offers again.

“They must have thought, ‘Maybe now he’s moved and his temper has dropped, now is the time, and there’s nothing wrong with making movies on commission for Hollywood. They have always offered me interesting projects. But I preferred to reinvest in myself and made ‘Inglourious Basterds’”.

I actually liked it Proof of death and I wonder if the film would have fared better if it had come out as a single film instead of a double feature. Tarantino previously told Empire he overestimated public enthusiasm for a double feature release:

“With ‘Grindhouse,’ I think Robert and I just felt that people had a little bit more insight into the history of double features and exploitation films. No they did not. At all. They had no idea what the fuck they were looking at. It meant nothing to them, all right, what we were doing. So it was a case of being a little too cool for school. But as far as the film being shown in England as a film, I think people have taken it well.

The director went on to talk about the lack of nudity and sex in his films, explaining that it was simply not necessary for the stories he tells. He said:

“It’s true, sex is not part of my vision of cinema, and the truth is, in real life, it’s a hassle to shoot sex scenes, everyone is very tense. And if it was already a bit problematic to do it before, now it’s even more so. If there was ever an essential sex scene to the story, I would have, but so far it hasn’t had to.”

Tarantino is currently preparing to direct his next film project, The film critic, set in the 1970s and will follow a male film critic. We don’t have any other details beyond that.