An independent filmmaker named Stephen Tramontana claimed that Quentin Tarantino has lifted the idea for "Grindhouse" and its title from him.
- Apr 13, 2007
AceShowbiz - While reports are still circulating on the intention of Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Co. to split two segments of "Grindhouse" as separate movies, another unpleasant news has struck the flick as an indie filmmaker recently alleged that director Quentin Tarantino has ripped off his idea to make the picture.
The filmmaker, whose name is Stephen Tramontana, has posted a statement on a site called therealgrindhouse.com accusing Tarantino to have stolen his title and concept of a movie he made back in 2002, though he did state that both "Death Proof "and "Grindhouse" had "no shared story threads or scenes."
Looking back during the time he developed the picture, Tramontana explained that he actually had approached Tarantino twice for a chance to show him the work, even sending a copy of it to the famed director's production company in the second attempt, yet there was no positive response from Tarantino. So, it struck him hard when he later found out reports saying the man was making a film with the same title and basic concept as his.
"People could say that there have been numerous movies with the same title," he remarked as posted on the site. "Gladiator comes to mind. To me, there's no way on God's green earth, that two movies called Grindhouse devoted to the idea of those old films, could be released. And it's weird that it happened after our film was released and got a fair amount of press in the genre circles."
Though very vocal in expressing his disappointment, seems there is no indication that Tramontana is intending to bring this case into legal action. On the other hand, several sites have been noticed to perceive his claim as merely a tool for getting more exposure on his film.
