This is one rumor that’s just too interesting not to share. Will Smith has been very decisive about his role selection in order to solidify the megastar status that he enjoys today, so it comes with a bit of surprise to hear the names “Will Smith” and “Quentin Tarantino” anywhere near the same sentences let alone rumored to actually be working on a project together.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Will Smith has emerged as the frontrunner to star in Quentin Tarantino’s next film, Django Unchained, a spaghetti Western about a slave in the Old South who teams with a German bounty hunter to search for his wife.
Tarantino stalwarts Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz also are circling key parts.
…Tarantino would like Smith to star in the film, the script for which has been making the rounds in recent days to wide acclaim. No official offer has been made to Smith, and any deal would of course be subject to working out financials, which might be difficult given Smith’s status as one of Hollywood’s few sure-thing stars.Smith is being teed up for the title role of Django, a freed slave who seeks to reunite with his slave wife, a journey that will see him team with a German bounty hunter to take down an evil plantation owner.
Tarantino wrote the bounty hunter part with Waltz in mind, according to insiders. The German ends up training Django and helping him seek his wife.
Jackson would play the house slave to the bad guy, Monsieur Calvin Candie. The slave is an expert manipulator and will face off with Django.
You know I was mildly interested in this project when it was first announced and that just catapulted onto downright ‘radar’ status as “Django Unchained” would be a very surprising and unquestionably interesting role choice for Smith. He has a habit of maintaining a squeaky clean image going out of his way to avoid the typical things that would be seen as a detraction or detriment to an actor, especially one as bankable as Smith.
Smith has been M.I.A. from the silver screen for about three years now but if any of the movies he’s rumored to be currently circling pan out then it would make for a interesting turn in the actors career. I’m curious to find out more about this movie and am hopeful we find more news on this sooner rather than later.
