Quentin Tarantino’s Django/Zorro crossover not turning into a film

A planned film by Quentin Tarantino that teams up Django and Zorro is no longer in development, says its co-writer.

We don’t know what Quentin Tarantino’s tenth film will be but we know what it won’t be. A feature film the auteur wanted to make that paired up his avenging grindhouse gunslinger Django with the Latin rapier-wielding Robin Hood Zorro is off.

This news, which is sure to disappoint Tarantino fans and lovers of pulp heroes, comes from stand-up comic Jerrod Carmichael who was co-writing the screenplay. “I realize the impossibility of it,” he said in a GQ interview.

Django and Zorro won’t ride again with Quentin Tarantino

Carmichael began by discussing his experience writing the script with the famed director. “Quentin’s a lunatic who I love, and I’m happy that I got to spend the time,” he said:

"“We saw exploitation flicks at the New Beverly, he read me scenes that never made it to his movies, that he had typed out, in his kitchen after making fresh-squeezed lemonade for me. It was really special.”"

Together, they penned the screenplay under these cordial conditions but soon it became clear the budget was going to get bloated. Carmichael added:

"“It’s actually an incredible, incredible script that came in from that Django/Zorro that I would love for Sony to figure out, but I realize the impossibility of it. But I still think we wrote a $500 million film.”"

The story would’ve picked up after the end of Django Unchained with him and his wife Broomhilda heading West, where they’d meet Don Diego de la Vega, better known as Zorro, and help him bust indigenous people out of slavery

Despite the studio being implicitly tepid about signing off on an expensive crossover, Carmichael admitted, “I love getting rid of irons [in the fire].” And interestingly, he has one more to toss out.

Not Another 48 Hrs.

A remake of a classic from the ’80s that starred Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte is also no longer in the cards, even though it had tremendous creative energy behind it.

Good Time and Uncut Gems filmmakers the Safdie Brothers were readying to reboot the film 48 Hrs. Carmichael would have starred in the Eddie Murphy role of a convict who helps a salty detective (Nolte) solve a string of cop killings.

Followed by a sequel, naturally titled Another 48 Hrs., the series left off there until the Safdies’ scrapped update was announced in 2017. Though it won’t be happening, Carmichael is still in touch with the sibling directors in case they want to make something.

Where Tarantino boldly goes from here

Quentin Tarantino once said he’d retire after making ten movies. He hasn’t completed the count yet and his next gig is up in the air. He had expressed interest in directing an R-rated Star Trek movie but that is about as likely now as Django meeting Zorro at this point.

That’s as it relates to movie screens big and small, anyway. The crusades of the two against the forces of oppression can be read in a limited series published by Dynamite Comics, and co-written by Tarantino.

Jerrod Carmichael, meanwhile, is keeping busy with his new HBO special Rothaniel and a new movie called On the Count of Three.

What is your reaction to Django and Zorro not crossing paths or swords on the big screen? And what should be next for Quentin Tarantino in your view? Tell us below and in all designated spaces.