Django Unchained New Quentin Tarantino Film Brings Spirit to San Diego Comic-Con 2012

Culture

There are only a handful of filmmakers in the world whose work is instantly recognizable, but Quentin Tarantino always comes to mind. This December, Tarantino presents us with his take on gonzo westerns with his new film Django Unchained. Despite its somewhat distant release date, Django looks poised to make quite a splash at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Starring Jamie Foxx as the title character alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, Django tells the story of a slave turned bounty-hunter out to rescue his wife.

Tarantino, to his credit, seems to have jumped into the extravaganza that is Comic-Con with both feet, even creating interactive activities for his fans. A look at the Facebook page for Django reveals details for spotting what are referred to as “outlaws”, aka people walking around Comic-Con wearing a particular t-shirt design. Should one be lucky enough to spot an outlaw, they need only walk up and speak the secret code, “the d is silent”. The outlaw will then give the person a coin with which they can score “bounty” at the Django Unchained outdoor exhibition. Even more exciting, Tarantino himself, along with Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington, will be participating in an hour-long panel discussion beginning at 11:30 on Saturday morning.

Hopefully, Django will be more than a thinly disguised Blaxploitation film. From the looks of things, Django looks to be worth checking out. Producer Reginald Hudlin, in an interview with Ebony magazine, explains: “So we [Hudlin and Tarantino] got into this whole debate about movies on this topic of slavery, and I was very frank about how I hated 90 percent of them … And I just felt like these movies should be exciting, they should be action-packed and most of all, I felt like they should have plenty of kicking ass because at the end of the day, the world needs black people who fought back.”