A new report indicates Quentin Tarantino and Jerrod Carmichael are teaming up to create a Django/Zorro movie based off the Dynamite Entertainment and Vertigo Comics comic book series of the same name.
Rumblings of a film adaptation of the comic book series began back in 2014 after the Sony hack revealed email exchanges between Tarantino and then Sony head Amy Pascal about the project. Now, Collider reports they have “heard from multiple sources that the film adaptation is real and that Carmichael is working on the script.”
The Django/Zorro comic series was written by the legend Matt Wagner and Quentin Tarantino with art by Esteve Polls. It was a seven issue run and was a direct sequel to Tarantino’s Django Unchained which starred Jamie Foxx as Django. The series saw Django put on the mask and whip of Zorro.
Here’s the official description of the first issue:
“Set several years after the events of Django Unchained, Django/Zorro #1 finds Django again pursuing the evil that men do in his role as a bounty hunter. Since there’s a warrant on his head back east, he’s mainly been plying his trade in the western states. After safely settling his wife, Broomhilda, near Chicago, he’s again taken to the road, sending her funds whenever he completes a job. it’s by sheer chance that he encounters the aged and sophisticated Diego de la Vega – the famed Zorro – and soon finds himself fascinated by this unusual character, the first wealthy white man he’s ever met who seems totally unconcerned with the color of Django’s skin… and who can hold his own in a fight. He hires on as Diego’s “bodyguard” for one adventure and is soon drawn into a fight to free the local indigenous people from a brutal servitude, discovering that slavery isn’t exclusive to black folks. In the course of this adventure, he learns much from the older man (much like King Schultz) and, on several occasions, even dons the mask and the whip… of The Fox!”
While Carmichael is reportedly working on the script, it’s unclear what Tarantino’s role in the production is at this time. Collider indicates they’ve received conflicting reports on whether he is providing oversight or co-writing. They speculate that he will not be directing the film based on his statements that he would retire from directing after his 10th film. If in fact he does direct the film, Django/Zorro would be his 10th film.
Carmichael is the standup comic behind The Carmichael Show. He also worked on nine episodes of Laugh Factory. He recently provided his voice talents in the animated film Ferdinand. He was Paco. He also played Jimmy in Transformers: The Last Knight and was Garf in the Neighbors movies.
Tarantino’s latest film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie will hit theaters on July 26, 2019.
This news is the latest surrounding Zorro in the last few months. Back in March, a rumor indicated an upcoming Zorro film would gender swap the main character. A solo Zorro film had been reported to be in the works with director Jonás Cuarón, actress Kiersey Clemons and actor Gael Garcia Bernal. The film was reportedly to take place in the not so distant future with Clemons’ character taking on a corrupt corporation called M-Corp.
One thing appears to be clear is that folks in Hollywood are interested in bringing Zorro back to the big screen in one way or another.
Are you interested in seeing a Django/Zorro movie? Would you want Tarantino to direct the film?