Django Unchained Casting News

  

In case you’ve been meditating in the Himalayas or something and haven’t heard, Quentin Tarantino is working on a film, a spaghetti Western by the name of Django Unchained.  If you haven’t heard of the original Django, it’s a 1966 spaghetti Western about a badass cowboy named Django who drags a coffin around everywhere.  It’s awesome.  Watch the trailer. Actually, watch the whole goddamn thing.  Anyway, there are only two official Django movies, but there have been tons of unofficial sequels. Now, from what we know so far, Django Unchained doesn’t seem like it will be a sequel to the original so much as it will an homage.  Shadow and Act has reported that the Django in Tarantino’s film will be a freed slave in the Deep South who receives training in the subtle art of ass-kicking from a German bounty hunter, and then decides to use this training to save his wife from an evil plantation owner. Basically, this movie is going to be to slavery-era America what Inglourious Basterds was to World War II.

At this point, Tarantino has already completed the script (which is sure to be awesome), and casting has begun.  So who’s been cast?

In the lead role of Django, we have Jamie Foxx.  For awhile, speculation was that Will Smith or Idris Elba would get the role, but apparently they both passed on the role.  While I would have been fine with Elba, I definitely prefer Jamie Foxx over Will Smith.  I don’t have anything against Will Smith – I just don’t think he’d work as well in this role.

If you’ve seen Inglourious Basterds (and why wouldn’t you have?), you’ve probably already guessed who will be playing Dr. King Schultz, the German bounty hunter. If you guessed Christoph Waltz, then congratulations, you win the satisfaction of knowing you were right.  While he hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but The Guardian has reported that the Austrian actor has already been cast.  Oh, and apparently his character is a former dentist.  I guess that gave him a head start in the area of causing people pain.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Leonardo DiCaprio will be playing the villainous and ridiculously-named plantation owner, Calvin Candie.  At first I wasn’t too keen on the idea of DiCaprio playing a villain, but now that I’ve had some time to warm up to the idea, I actually quite like it.  Candie also operates a brothel by the name of Candyland, where white dudes can have their way with the female slaves.  Sounds like a pretty detestable dude.  Hopefully he’ll get killed off in an excessively violent manner. Decapitation, anyone?

Kevin Costner is also in negotiations for the role of Ace Woody, a character that Deadline describes as “the sadistic trainer of the male fighting slaves who entertain the white patrons of Candyland as well as the female slaves who are forced to be prostitutes”.  I’m not sure how Costner will handle this, seeing as he usually would play the guy who kills the sadistic slave trainer, but Tarantino is usually pretty good about getting top-notch performances out of his actors, so I’m not too concerned.

Then there’s Gerald McRaney, one of the most recent additions to the cast.  No one really knows who he’ll be playing yet.

And last but certainly not least, we have… Samuel L. Jackson, motherfucker!  It’s long been suspected that Jackson would be in the film, but now we finally have confirmation.  His role will be that of Stephen, Calvin Candie’s head house slave.  Not much to go on, but I’m sure he’ll be plenty badass.

All in all, it’s a pretty awesome cast.  I’m impressed.  Of course, this still leaves one of the most important roles uncast – Django’s wife, Broomhilda.  No word yet on who will play her.

Django Unchained is slated for release on Christmas 2012, because Jesus specially requested the movie as a birthday present.  Spaghetti Western revenge flicks with tons of graphic violence are his favorite.