Antonio Banderas is sharing details about the Quentin Tarantino-directed Django Unchained crossover movie that was meant to star him alongside Jamie Foxx. Banderas first played the iconic sword-fighting vigilante in 1998's The Mask of Zorro before reprising the role in the 2005 sequel The Legend of Zorro. Foxx starred as the slave-turned-bounty-hunter Django in Tarantino's blood-soaked 2012 western epic.
As early as 2014 there were rumors of Tarantino considering the idea of a crossover movie that would connect the two franchises. While the concept never made its way to movie theaters, Tarantino actually did realize his idea in the form of a comic book, Django/Zorro, which he co-wrote as an official sequel to Django Unchained. The book saw the title characters teaming up a few years after the events of Django Unchained and Foxx's character eventually donning the famous black mask and the mantle of Zorro.
In a recent interview with USA Today to promote his new Spanish-language comedy Official Competition, Banderas recalled a meeting he had with Tarantino in 2020 regarding the idea of a cinematic Zorro/Django story, saying the idea seemed, "fantastic and funny and crazy." The actor praised Tarantino's distinctive style as being a perfect fit for the hypothetical movie and said that he would have cherished the opportunity to work with both Tarantino and Foxx. Read his full statement below:
He talked to me, I think on the Oscar night (in 2020) when I was nominated for "Pain and Glory." We saw each other at one of those parties. He just came up to me and I was like, "In your hands? Yeah, man!" Because Quentin just has that nature to do those type of movies and give them quality. Even if they are based on those types of B-movies of the ’60s and ’70s, he can take that material and do something really interesting. We've never worked together, but it would be great because of him, because of Jamie Foxx and because of (playing) Zorro again when he's a little bit older. It would be fantastic and funny and crazy.
While the proposed crossover never came to be, Banderas' cinematic swashbuckling days weren't exactly over. His character of Puss in Boots, first introduced in Shrek 2 before getting his own solo franchise, takes many cues from the dashing crime fighter. Banderas will return to voicing that role later this year in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. And while a Django crossover may not be in the cards at the moment, audiences can at least look forward to an female-led Zorro TV series that is currently in the works from frequent Tarantino collaborator Robert Rodriguez.
It's been a while since there was any hint at progress on Tarantino's proposed movie. The last major update came in 2019 when it was reported that Tarantino had tapped Jerrod Carmichael to work on a script. Banderas himself has hinted in interviews that he thinks he's aging out of the role at this point, and Tarantino has also famously said that he'll be retiring from filmmaking after his tenth movie. So it seems the time is running out for all the necessary stars to align and get a Zorro/Django Unchained project off the ground.
Source: USA Today
