When Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opens later this year it will leave Quentin Tarantino with just one more movie left to direct before his “retirement.” While I think we all expect him to go out with something really special, a new rumor suggests it could be a crossover film teaming up Django and the legendary Zorro. Sound likely to you? Me neither, but let’s see.
Collider has the news, and they are generally pretty reliable. Plus, a dig into the details shows the extent of Tarantino’s involvement is still a bit murky, even if the project is a definite go. Basically, the film is an adaptation of the Django/Zorro comic book, an official sequel to 2012’s Django Unchained. Tarantino is working alongside comedian/actor Jerrod Carmichael on the script, but it’s unclear if he’s co-writing it or just overseeing Carmichael’s work. It’s also not a given that Tarantino will direct, and he may hand the reins over to someone else.
Here’s a synopsis from the comic:
The official Django Unchained sequel, uniting the gun-blazing Western hero with the legendary swordsman of literature, film, and comics: Zorro! Set several years after the events of Django Unchained, Django again pursues evil men in his role as a bounty hunter. Taking to the roads of the American Southwest, he encounters the aged and sophisticated Diego de la Vega by sheer chance. Django is fascinated by this unusual character, the first wealthy white man he’s met who seems totally unconcerned with the color of his skin… and who can hold his own in a fight. Django hires on as Diego’s bodyguard, and is soon drawn into a fight to free the local indigenous people from brutal servitude. Learning much from the older man (as he did from King Schultz), he discovers that slavery isn’t exclusive to his people, as he even dons the mask of Zorro in their mission of mercy!
So this is happening, we just don’t know what Tarantino will have to do with it. The likelihood that he would end his career directing something like this is slim-to-none, but it could still wind up being pretty cool. Carmichael’s a talented, funny guy who created the short-lived series The Jerrod Carmichael Show, and he’s currently writing the 48 Hrs remake to be directed by The Safdie Brothers (Good Time). If Tarantino won’t get behind the camera himself, maybe he can hand it over to a like-minded pal like Robert Rodriuez? I’d love to see that, too. And if this is going on does that mean Jamie Foxx is guaranteed to return?
