Comments on: We Read It: Casting Quentin Tarantino’s Slavery/Spaghetti Western Epic ‘Django Unchained’

By: Jake Mulligan

Jake Mulligan — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Cool, thanks for the response. I mention the Wu because he\’s said at one point that there was a sequence in \”Basterds\” (probably a previous iteration of the script) that had a sequence set to their music. And also, I would love to see \”Unchained\” become a celebration of black culture right up to this very day, and I think the Wu could add to that, as some of the most unarguably artistic hip-hop music out there.

By: Shane

Shane — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Thanks for the article! Great choices, here\’s my picks/ thoughts:

Django- Anthony Mackie
Dr King Schultz- Great choice of Waltz but how about Chris Walken?
Broomwilda- Taraji Henson
Calvin Candle- Rourke,Brolin,B.B. Thorton
Stephen- Sam Jackson would be cool, Richard Roundtree would be interesting,
here\’s an out of box thought…how about Ernest Thomas of the 70\’s \”What\’s Happening?\”
Ace Woody- Ben Foster
Lara Lee Candle-UMA (wasn\’t she talking about the project not to long ago?)
Spencer \”big daddy\”-Michael Parks, Jeff Fahey or Kurt Russell
Leo Mogny-John Hawkes is a great choice but how about Josh Holloway?
Scotty Harmony- Josh Gad
Bartholomew- Michael Clarke Duncan or Terry Crews

The rest are up in the air… What do you guys think of the above? I\’m sure more out of left field choices will come to QT or forgotten western/70\’s actors.
Can\’t wait for this movie!

By: The Playlist

The Playlist — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

@Shane My favorite choice of yours here is Ben Foster.

By: JGA

JGA — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

The report of John Hawkes having only a \”loose\” connection to Tarantino by way of Robert Rodriguez\’s \”Roadracers\” is inaccurate. While it\’s true that Hawkes was indeed in \”Roadracers\”, he played the character of \”Pete Bottoms\”, the store clerk who is killed along with Michael Park\’s Earl McGraw (a staple in the Tarantino [and Rodriguez for that matter] universe) in \”From Dusk \’Til Dawn\”. As you know doubt know, \”From Dusk \’Til Dawn\” was written by Tarantino – who also starred in the movie – and directed by Rodriguez. So there is a much more direct connection there.

By: BuntyHoven

BuntyHoven — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Good article, guys. Love this sort of thing.

By: Shane

Shane — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

How about Sidney Poitier for Stephen? and including Sam Elliott somewhere in here?

By: theoc

theoc — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

great piece that I\’m too drunk to finish, well done Oliver (that sounds wanky) I\’ll finish it tomorrow but well done.

By: Sailor

Sailor — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

I hope he goes with out of the box choices, so no Sam Jackson, no Rourke, no Keitel, certainly no Brolin. I could even do without Waltz, but the part is obviosly written for him.

If he can get Franco Nero he would be cool has Candie…

By: snowballa

snowballa — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

@shane: I thought Sidney Poitier would be excellent for Stephen as well. Having a well-respected actor who broke racial boundaries in his day play such a character would be obvious, but still great nevertheless. Clarke Peters is a great choice as well, as anyone who has seen \”Mona Lisa\” and \”Damages\” on TV, he is fantastic as an antagonist.

On the flip side, the casting of Waltz is lazy.

BROOMHILDA: thankless role. beef up the part and then cast Nicole Beharie from American Violet

By: snowballa

snowballa — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Isn\’t Treat Williams attached to this as well?

By: The Playlist

The Playlist — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Sidney Poitier cannot be in this movie for what should be obvious reasons if you understand his relationship to black cinema. Not even Stephen.

By: YY

YY — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Danny Glover was in Lars von Trier\’s \”Manderlay\” so I wouldn\’t count him out.

By: The Playlist

The Playlist — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

@YY Good point!

I personally think he would be the best, but again, these aren\’t really our picks (but if you read closely, you\’ll see our top picks scattered throughout.

By: Jake Mulligan

Jake Mulligan — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Sorry to have to ask something slightly off topic, but I\’ve got two questions I\’m dying to know about this script and I don\’t want to read it whether it leaks or not.
A. Are any music choices made clear? Anything anachronistic? Or does it just all designated as Ennio-esque stuff? I won\’t lie, I think some Wu-Tang Clan needs to be in this flick.
B. Are any movies (other than \”Charley One-Eye\” and \”Mandingo\”, which you noted) referenced directly in the script? Any other westerns or anything like that?

By: The Playlist

The Playlist — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Ennio Morricone for sure. He did the music for \”Django\” (the title track of which i put on my If I Were Quentin Tarantino imaginary soundtrack back in 2007. How\’s that for prescient?

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2007/04/soundtrack-series-moves-to-interweb.html

I would seriously doubt, even for anachronistic QT that there would be any rap in the film. It\’s a spaghetti western so it will have spaghetti western music from older films and or, if QT is lucky, he\’ll get Morricone himself like he tried to get him for Inglourious Basterds.

By: The Playlist

The Playlist — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Actually, I forgot, it\’s written by Luis Bacalov in that film, but the version i have (and which i like better) was performed by Morricone.

Here\’s the Bacalov version, the morricone one has acapella female vocals which are great and more strings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dy5NKDesDY

By: jesse

jesse — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

jesus christ these picks were awesome haha

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Amazing article. Top notch research and fantastic choices.

I would love to see Roundtree and Russell in their selected roles.

And yeah, I could see the Wu on the soundtrack for this. It seems to jab that vibe. Maybe some new original stuff just for the film. And if Basterds can play a 80s Bowie song, why can\’t this feature some Wu?

And did someone say Josh Halloway? Ugh. No. He will always be Sawyer and a poor mans Solid Snake.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Broomhilda=Kerry Washington, she\’s a fantastic actress or Naomie Harris.

By: lrobhubbard

lrobhubbard — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

I think THE BOONDOCKS did this better in their episode \”The Legend of Catcher Freeman\” (Uncle Ruckus version).

By: L

Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Am I the only one who sees a golden oppurtunity to use the song \”Boss Nigger\” from the movie with the same name?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Fig_LoBy4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

By: L

Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Am I the only one who sees a golden oppurtunity to use the song \”Boss Nigger\” from the movie with the same name?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Fig_LoBy4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Broomhilda = NICOLE BEHARIE. DONE.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Uh, Paula Patton is \”too light-skinned\” and not right for the time period because she\’s biracial? Someone needs a more thorough history lesson. Biracial people have existed since the beginning of time and most certainly existed during slavery. Even D.W. Griffith included biracial characters in Birth of a Nation. Paula Patton could most certainly play the daughter of a slave and plantation owner: as was sometimes the case. Duh.

By: viola

viola — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:37:29 +0000

Looking forward to the 3 Aussie hicks for some comic relief. You can\’t go past Jason Gann and Adam Zwar from the original Wilfred. Ben Mendelsohn works well with another Aussie, Noah Taylor.