Tarantino’s Django Unchained Sees Casting Change

Most actors would give up a limb to work with Quentin Tarantino, director of such modern day classics as “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds”. The man is a great storyteller, and has the knack for squeezing great performances out of his cast. Kevin Costner however, won’t get to find out any of that. At least not on his latest project, the Western “Django Unchained”. Yesterday, Heat Vision confirmed what had been hinted at a couple of weeks ago. Costner has dropped out due to “scheduling conflicts”. Inside word suggests a different reason, with speculation ranging from the actor not being happy with the size of his role, to pay disputes.

Whatever the reason, Costner’s replacement has been found. Kurt Russell will now be playing the role of Ace, a secondary villain who is described as “a man who oversees the plantation in a ruthless manner and who relishes punishing slaves”. Russell is a good choice. He is neither a stranger to bad guy roles nor working with Tarantino, having played the psychotic Stuntman Mike in “Death Proof”. The film’s plot is basically about a slave (Jamie Foxx) who hires a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to seek revenge on an evil plantation boss (Leonardo DiCaprio). Russell is solid when doing straight-up leading men, but he also shines in more complex roles, and making him second fiddle wouldn’t diminish his effectiveness.

“Django Unchained” premieres 25th December 2012.