Quentin Tarantino sent Bob Dylan script for Death Proof as he thought songwriter would ‘appreciate one thing’

Veteran film director Quentin Tarantino sent his Death Proof script to Bob Dylan as he believed the Mr. Tambourine Man songwriter would “appreciate one thing.”

Tarantino, the director behind works like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and The Hateful Eight, believed Dylan would “get a kick” out of his writing style and so sent the songwriter a copy of the script to his Kurt Russell-starring film, Death Proof. A post to the r/TodayILearned subreddit republished the quote and confirmed Tarantino did not get a reply from Dylan. The post reads: “Quentin Tarantino was so impressed with his own screenplay for Death Proof that he sent a copy to Bob Dylan stating, ‘I just thought he’d get a kick out of the dialogue [and] wordplay… I thought he would appreciate it.’ QT did not receive a reply.

Fans of Dylan have since mocked Tarantino’s decision to send the script. One user asked: “Why Bob Dylan?” The original poster replied: “I think because Dylan is considered to be one of the best songwriters of the twentieth century and QT felt that qualified him to appreciate the wordplay in his script.”

Another wrote: “Such an amazing creator but seriously – I went to see that at the cinema and wow… I very rarely feel I waste money at the movies, but Death Proof was a piece of trash.” A third disagreed and found fun in one particular addition to the film, which was paired with Planet Terror as part of the Grindhouse release.

They wrote: “That’s not accurate at all. The double feature and the fake trailers breaking them up was tons of fun.” A third wrote: “Easily his worst movie. I don’t know what happened or why he was so pleased with it, but I regret ever watching it.”

Tarantino says that, while he doesn’t know what Dylan made of the script, he did not call him to check in and ask if he had read it. In an interview from 2007, Tarantino said: “I just thought he’d get a kick out of the dialogue. I’ve always been a big fan of his and I know him a little bit.

“I just thought he would think the wordplay – the structure of the words in it and the different voices for the dialogue – I just thought he would appreciate it.” Tarantino confirmed he did not get in touch with Dylan again after sending him the script.

He explained: “It’s been so crazy ever since, I haven’t had a chance to give him a call.”