Quentin Tarantino Developing Django, Zorro Crossover Movie

Acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is developing a sequel to his film Django Unchained, based on a comic book miniseries that teamed Django with Zorro. The screenplay will be co-written by Tarantino with Jerrod Carmichael, best known for his acting work on projects like Neighbors and The Disaster Artist, and for his work both in front of the camera and behind the scenes on The Carmichael Show. Written by Tarantino with veteran comics creator Matt Wagner, Django/Zorro was jointly released by DC and Dynamite Entertainment. While Dynamite currently publishes comics based on Zorro, DC had teamed with Tarantino and his publishing partner Reginald Hudlin to adapt the original Django Unchained screenplay into comics for DC.

Collider says that the project, which has been whispered about since 2014 when the comic was being done, is a go, although the exact details are sketchy. There may be a third, as-yet-unknown writer in the mix and depending on who they asked, Tarantino was either co-writing or just advising on the screenplay. Time will tell how the final product looks. Of course, Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx is already set to headline a comic book adaptation soon: Spawn, based on Todd McFarlane's long-running creator-owned series. The film, described as less of a superhero film and more of a horror movie than the '90s version starring Michael Jai White in the title role, is set to be directed by McFarlane himself.

Django and Zorro are both heroes of the Western genre, fighting off oppressors of the era. The original comic took place several years after the events of Django Unchained, and saw the title character working in the West (since there was a bounty on his head back on the east coast). He meets and becomes a bodyguard to an older man, not realizing that the sophisticated socialite is actually Zorro. Ultimately, the two work together to free the local indigenous people from slavery.

The Collider story suggests it is unlikely that Tarantino will direct the film himself, and it is more likely he will oversee and executive produce the movie for another director, as he has done with various properties in the past, ranging from Hostel to direct-to-DVD-style "Quentin Tarantino Presents..." films.

Tomorrow, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, an animated feature film "inspired by" James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II's comic book miniseries from DC and IDW Publishing. While these crossover mash-ups had previously seemed impossible to film for rights and profitsharing reasons, the need to find something ever bigger than the last Marvel or Star Wars movie may be ushering in a new age of cooperation for certain interested parties.