Tarantino completing, submitting, and beginning work on a new script is unarguably the biggest shit in town. Remakes and superheroes stand no chance- QT is on the move in Hollywood.
So here’s the rundown…
• The script title page leaked via twitter, TWC confirmed the film is happening, and a synopsis formed…
Django is a freed slave, who, under the tutelage of a German bounty hunter (played by Christopher Waltz the evil Nazi officer in Inglorious Basterds) becomes a bad-ass bounty hunter himself, and after assisting Waltz in taking down some bad guys for profit, is helped by Waltz in tracking down his slave wife and liberating her from an evil plantation owner. And that doesn’t even half begin to cover it! This film deals with racism as I’ve rarely seen it handled in a Hollywood film. While it’s 100 percent pure popcorn and revenge flick, it is pure genius in the way it takes on the evil slave owning south. Think of what he did with the Nazis in Inglorious and you’ll get a sense of what he’s doing with slave owners and slave overseers in this one.
• MTV outdatedly pointed out that Waltz denied the movie’s existence and his involvement only a few weeks ago. His explanation was that an Italian filmmakers talked about a western he was making, mentioned Tarantino’s name, and all us dumb internet people freaked out and ran with it. Absolutely a thing that would happen, but clearly not the case here. The Weinstein Company seemed to confirm that Waltz is involved in a big role (via Indiewire). Keith Carradine and Treat Williams have also been mentioned in conjunction with the film. Tarantino himself says the film is not cast.
• Folks start reading the 166-page (not 366 page) script, and it becomes very clear that the Django connection is in-name-only, and the film is not a sequel or follow-up to the classic Django westerns that featured the character. Devin at BAD noted it, as did JoBlo.
• All the business about Franco Nero — the originator of the Django character — being in the film is unlikely (at least in anything more than a supporting role) because of the aforementioned synopsis that is not a follow-up to the original films. The script does apparently takes cues from Elmore Leonard’s 40 Lashes Less One, which is a book Tarantino once purchased and held the rights for, and was rumored to be adapting many years ago.
NOW, I can say I’ve heard small murmurs about other cast members, including one source close to everything that tells me Nicky Katt — who has shown up for brief, delightful turns in Rodriguez and Tarantino movies for some time now, and is amazing in general — will have a role. That’s definitely not a thing I can confirm, especially when Tarantino has so vehemently made it clear to Vulture today that he just Tuesday finished the script, and that any casting/production rumors are just that. Of course, there’s no way he hasn’t been getting ducks in a row for this film for some time and he definitely writes parts with actors in mind, so who knows what will shake out.
Just to note: I don’t have a copy of the script currently, and have not read a single page of it.
So that’s the state of things so far… we don’t know much, and we’re so excited to that a lot of information has swarmed around just waiting for more official information to appear. I’m right there with everyone- Inglourious Basterds is a film I truly love, and love in a way that even Tarantino’s other films have never warranted… I think my Tyler Stout IB poster is literally the only possession of mine that I would brave a roaring fire to save if my house was burning down (well, maybe my laptop… feds can pull shit off a melted hard drive ya know).
So that’s where we are, and I can fucking guarantee that when we know more, you will know more.
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