Even Tarantino knew you couldn’t appropriate the name of a badass like Django and not acknowledge the man who made it famous in the first place, hence Franco Nero’s cameo in his upcoming Django Unchained. Hell, the ownership is so complete that the tacit handoff between Foxx and Nero was even included in all of the trailers!
Still, just because Nero is cool with Foxx borrowing his famous moniker doesn’t mean he’s not willing to snap it back at a moments notice, and he may well be doing so to complete a trilogy of sorts with Django Lives!, a second sequel. You see, Corbucci’s original spawned so many knock-offs, pseudo-sequels and other imitators that you could rightfully say there’s something like several dozen “Django films” but only two starred Franco Nero himself and involved creator Sergio Corbucci (who only wrote the sequel).
Now this news comes with a few caveats, specifically that right now the project is just an idea that Nero has expressed interest in. In fact, the the project is the scheme of a few low-budget Western filmmakers that have apparently managed to secure Nero’s interest (confirmed in a sort of dubious-sounding “letter of interest”) by impressing him with their micro-budget Western work. This film moving forward is contingent on them getting the rights to the character, getting a budget (which should be easy once Django Unchained blows the doors off and a dozen low-rent production companies line up wanting their DTV cash-in), and actually getting Nero to sign on a dotted line.
If all that were to occur the story would apparently run as follows:
The story would have former gunslinger Django, in his twilight years, ending up as a silent-movie consultant in 1915 Hollywood and meeting an aspiring filmmaker with whom he reluctantly goes into business. When the filmmaker gets killed by racketeers, the young man’s gambling debts are considered transferred to Django, who must now flee for safety to a small rural community. But that town’s sharply divided inhabitants have their own problems, and Django becomes embroiled in a bloody conflict immediately upon arrival.
Directors Eric Zaldivar and Mike Malloy also have ties to actor Noah Segan (t) who would likely take on a supporting role as a younger gun-slinger (hopefully with better aim than in his last film).
So this all boils down to a bit of a marketing ploy for the duo’s last project, The Scarlet Worm, but it could possibly be the seeds of a small, cool project sometime in the future. We’ll certainly keep our ears out for more developments.
In the meantime, keep up with my Unchaining Django series (Part 1, Part 2) if you’re excited for Tarantino’s upcoming epic.