UPDATE: According to Deadline, Jamie Foxx is officially confirmed for the role and will begin negotiations shortly.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Will Smith is out and Jamie Foxx is in. This is what we’ve been hearing. Podcaster and former Creative Screenwriting Magazine alumnus Jeff Goldsmith has tweeted once again some important casting news about Quentin Tarantino‘s upcoming Western Django Unchained. In his tweet he says that Jamie Foxx is definitely on board for the Tarantino flick in the lead role of escaped slave Django, who’s on the hunt for revenge.
Will Smith is out! Inside sources tell me that Tarantino has chosen Oscar winner @iamjamiefoxx to play Django!
I’m not convinced until I hear an official announcement but so far in his reporting on Django Unchained news, Jeff has been very accurate and his sources are pretty “solid”.
As for Foxx, this is interesting news on a couple of counts. In my eye, Foxx isn’t the obvious choice for this. Like Will Smith he’s a little too ‘preened’ (for lack of a better word) for a Tarantino movie. He isn’t grizzled enough. Secondly I’m quite surprised Smith is out. It’s a big financial factor for the Weinstein brothers but clearly the subject matter seems to have clashed with his pretty boy, clean cut, dire straight star persona.
While Foxx is a good replacement, personally I would have gone for Idris Elba who seems a far more obvious and better choice. Mainly because he is a mean looking man and has presence, he’s a big, tall, imposing figure. Foxx is a chameleon though so it may be possible that he could turn in a great performance. If true, Foxx will join Christoph Waltz and possibly Samuel L Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Django Unchained is expected to frame up later in the year for a Christmas Day release next year.
