It seemed too good to be true. A photo plucked from the Twittersphere. Somebody holds a screenplay to the camera, its title page crudely handwritten in thick black marker pen…

“DJANGO UNCHAINED”
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino

Last draft
April 26th
2011

Nice try, many of us thought. Who the hell are you anyway, @agenttrainee? Yeah, we’ve all seen before that this is how he sometimes likes to decorate his manuscripts – QT ain’t gonna be Courier 12’s bitch – but it doesn’t take a master art forger to replicate that serial killer scrawl. Anyone who’s followed this filmmaker’s career knows his penchant for procrastination (he’d been talking up Inglourious Basterds since 1994!) there’s no way a new Tarantino picture could be upon us so soon…

Well, we’re very happy to report that we were wrong – the pic was verified as genuine and the screenplay soon began to do the rounds, with noted film guru Harry Knowles being one of the trusted few granted access, gleefully providing a Twitter commentary as he read it:

“page 47, I have tears of joy”

“Christoph Waltz’s character in DJANGO UNCHAINED 56 pages in is the best character in QT’s history. no spoiler in that. just when i knew”

“DJANGO UNCHAINED is an operatic southern… this is my favorite QT script. & I’ve read them all. This I absolutely love at every level”

While chuffed he had a good time, I have to wonder why anybody would want to deny themselves the experience of seeing a new Quentin Tarantino film unspoiled, in a cinema, the way God intended, is beyond me! But the same thing happened with Basterds and Kill Bill, and it’ll continue on as long as the guy writes. I’ll never understand it, even in the name of movie journalism. Count me out.

Anyway, what do we know so far…

While the title refers directly to Sergio Corbucci’s series of spaghetti westerns starting in 1966, it isn’t yet clear whether this will follow the same character (as originally portrayed by Franco Nero), or is simply being used to pay homage to the cult movie, much the same way QT borrowed the title of his last film from a little seen, unrelated WWII movie from 1978.

The plot revolves around a former slave teaming up with a bounty hunter (the aforementioned Christophe Waltz?) on a mission to liberate his wife from a vicious slave owner.

Today comes news that the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith, is in talks to play the titular character after Tarantino apparently wrote the role with him in mind. While this rumour may prove to be just that, I for one would love to see Big Willie step up and stop being so calculated in his film choices – if he’s not punching aliens in the face in that summers biggest, dumbest blockbuster, he’s getting teary-eyed in some desperate, Oscar-chasing drivel (THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS; SEVEN POUNDS). A protect like this would give him a chance to showcase acting chops not seen since Michael Mann’s ALI.

Expect DJANGO to go before cameras later this year, and to be released sometime in the first half of 2012.

Smith can next be seen punching aliens in the face in this year’s MEN IN BLACK III.

What do you folks think? Is Smith a good choice? If not, who would you rather see in the role? Let us know with your comments below!