While Quentin Tarantino brought the idea of Django shooting back into our collective brains with 2013’s Django Unchained, the original take on the character – portrayed by Franco Nero – was still out there. Now he’s coming back for a third 'official' film, and Fast Draw Films has John Sayles writing the new script for the character called **Django Lives!
Nero first played the blood-stained Civil War outlaw in 1966’s Django, going on to become one of the most famous spaghetti Western icons and inspiring a torrent of imitators and unofficial sequels, including QT’s hat-tip. He returned to the role in 1987 for** Django Strikes Again**. So the delay between the second and third films is perhaps not as surprising as it might seem.
Sayles could certainly be the right man for the script job, given his experience writing and directing 1996’s Lone Star. And Nero certainly appears to approve the choice. “John Sayles is a master of literature,” said the actor and producer. “His Lone Star is one of the greatest modern westerns ever shot. He knows how to be exquisitely cultivated and people-oriented at the same time, exactly like another master I’ve worked with, Mr. Orson Welles. And that says a lot.”
No director is attached right now, but who knows? Perhaps Sayles could end up taking on the mantle himself?