Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained movie poster and plot summary released

Django Unchained one-sheet

Quentin Tarantino’s new film project Django Unchained isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until Christmas Day, but excitement is already building over the flick, which is currently being filmed in Louisiana. A couple days ago the first official one-sheet poster surfaced in Spain, and since then The Weinstein Company have released the English version as well. And today, the studio shared the first official plot synopsis. Here it is in it’s entirety:

Set in the South two years before the Civil War, DJANGO UNCHAINED stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

Django andSchultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival…

Written and directed by Academy Award®-winner Quentin Tarantino, DJANGO UNCHAINED is produced by Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone. The executive producers are Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Michael Shamberg, Shannon McIntosh, and James Skotchdopole. DJANGO UNCHAINED will be released in the U.S. on December 25, 2012, and internationally by Sony Pictures.

I love the idea of Tarantino re-teaming with Inglourious Basterds‘ Christoph Waltz, but it seems surprising that he will once again be playing a German hunter of men. Hmmm….

Also pairing up with Tarantino again are actors Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell.

The lead role of Django was reportedly written for Will Smith, but after he passed on the project, Tarantino then offered the role to Foxx.

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated role in the film will be Leonardo Dicaprio as the malicious slave owner Calvin Candie. I’m a little tired of Leo in super serious roles in which he seems to play the same character, but I look forward to him in this stylized Tarantino role!

Also listed in the credits is actor Don Johnson as Spencer Gordon Bennet. It’s hard to imagine Tarantino using Johnson in such a South-centric movie without making some sort of reference to his version of Ben Quick in 1985’s The Long, Hot Summer. Of course, as soon as you expect anything from Tarantino, that’s exactly when you can expect it not to happen 🙂

Here’s the original Spanish version of the Django Unchained poster:

Spanish Django Unchained movie poster