Back in mid-September Kevin Costner had to drop out of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained due to reported scheduling conflicts. Costner was to play Ace Woody, a sadistic trainer of male fighting slaves who entertain the white patrons of Candyland, the club and ranch owned by sadistic slavemaster Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Now it appears a replacement has been found.
The Hollywood Reporter brings word Tarantino will reunite with his Death Proof star Kurt Russell, who will take over for Costner and join the cast which includes DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx in the title role, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz.
The film is set in the 1800s and will be shot as an old school spaghetti western with Foxx playing Django, a slave who teams with a German bounty hunter (Waltz) to take on Calvin Candie in an attempt to free his slave wife, Broomhilda. Jackson plays Stephen, a house slave and right-hand man of Candie’s.
Gerald McRaney (The A-Team) and Dennis Christopher (Breaking Away) have also been cast. McRaney’s role is unknown, but Christopher will play Candie’s lawyer, Leo Moguy.
All that’s left now is to find an actress to play Broomhilda. So far, Kerry Washington is the only name I remember hearing rumored for the role.
Production is expected to begin is expected to begin inside the next couple of months for a December 25, 2012 release.
