Django Unchained

Django Unchained is Quentin Tarantino's eighth film, set to be released on December 25, 2012.

Plot
Django Unchained is set in the Old South, and follows Django (Jamie Foxx), a freed slave who treks across America with the German dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). The unorthodox Schultz is after the Brittle brothers, and he acquires Django to help him catch them dead or alive, after which he promises to free Django. Furthermore, Schultz promises to help retrieve Django's wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the charming but sadistic Francophile plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his entourage of ruthless slavers. Candie's plantation, known as "Candyland", where slaves are trained by Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle it out gladiator-style, known as "mandingo fighting." Django and Schultz enter the compound under false pretensions to search for Broomhilda, but soon arouse the suspicion of Stepen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. After that, they must choose between independence and solidarity, and between sacrifice and survival in order to escape safely with Broomhilda.

Cast

 * Jamie Foxx as Django, a freed slave searching for his wife.
 * Kerry Washington as Broomhilda von Shaft, Django's wife.
 * Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz, a bounty hunter who assists Django. Waltz dislocated his pelvis bone while training for the film.
 * Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, the ruthless plantation owner who owns Django's wife.
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen, Candie's trusted house slave.
 * M.C. Gainey as Big John Brittle
 * Don Johnson as Spencer Gordon Bennet
 * James Remar as Ace Speck
 * James Russo as Dicky Speck
 * Jonah Hill as Randy
 * Laura Cayouette as Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly
 * Dennis Christopher as Leonide Moguy
 * Cooper Huckabee as Roger "Little Raj" Brittle
 * Doc Duhame as Ellis Brittle
 * Tom Savini as Tracker Cheney
 * Bruce Dern as Curtis Carrucan
 * Tom Wopat as Marshall Gill Tatum
 * Misty Upham as Minnie
 * Michael Bacall as Smitty Bacall
 * Robert Carradine as Tracker Lex
 * Rex Linn as Tennessee Harry
 * Ned Bellamy as Wilson
 * Franco Nero as Amerigo Vessepi
 * Sharon Pierre-Louis as Little Jody
 * Michael Parks as Roy

Failed Casting

 * Joseph Gordon-Levitt was originally cast as Jano, but decided not to be in Django Unchained so he can work on his directorial debut, Don Jon's Addiction.
 * Kevin Costner was cast as Ace Woody, but due to schedule conflicts with Man of Steel he was replaced by Kurt Russell. Russell eventually departed the production, and the role of Billy Crash was expanded to include Woody's storyline. Rumors say that Russell and Tarantino did not see eye-to-eye on how his character should be portrayed.
 * Sacha Baron Cohen was cast as Scotty Harmony, though he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.
 * Lady Gaga was considered for the role of Lara Lee Candie Fitzwilly.

Filming

 * Principal photography started in California in November 2011, in Wyoming in February 2012, and at the National Historic Landmark Evergreen Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana, outside of New Orleans, in March 2012.

Soundtrack

 * See main article: Django Unchained Soundtrack

Trivia

 * See more trivia at IMDb


 * The film is inspired by the 1966 Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti western Django, with star Franco Nero having a cameo.
 * According to critic Alex Ross, the alliance between Django and Dr. Schultz is "not as absurd" as audiences might believe, because in the 1840s many German revolutionaries and progressives left Europe for the U.S. where they often became active in the anti-slavery movement.
 * Quentin Tarantino originally intended for Will Smith to star as Django, but he rejected the part. Afterwards, he wanted to pit six actors against each other in various obstacles to choose his lead. They included: Jamie Foxx, Chris Tucker, Terrence Howard, Tyrese Gibson, M.K. Williams, and Idris Elba (the latter two from HBO's "The Wire"). However, after the director met Foxx, he was sold.