Sony taps Mystic River writer Brian Helgeland to script a Django/Zorro film based on Tarantino and Wagner’s comic series

As far as movie mashups go, this is a weird one. According to Deadline, Sony Pictures wants Academy Award-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, LA Confidential) to write Django/Zorro, a silver screen adaptation of the seven-issue comic series published by Dynamite Entertainment. Helgeland will adapt the curious crossover series, co-written by Quentin Tarantino and Matt Wagner.

Dynamite published Django/Zorro in 2014, with the story serving as the closest Tarantino has ever come to penning a sequel to his 2012 Western epic Django Unchained. To be clear, Tarantino will not direct the adaptation of his Django/Zorro crossover, but the project does reportedly have his blessing.

What is Dynamite’s Django/Zorro Comic Book Series About?

Here’s the official synopsis for the Django/Zorro comic book series, courtesy of Dynamite Entertainment:

“Set several years after the events of Django Unchained, Django again pursues evil men in his role as a bounty hunter. Taking to the roads of the American Southwest, he encounters the aged and sophisticated Diego de la Vega by sheer chance. Django is fascinated by this unusual character, the first wealthy white man he’s met who seems totally unconcerned with the color of his skin… and who can hold his own in a fight. Django hires on as Diego’s bodyguard, and is soon drawn into a fight to free the local indigenous people from brutal servitude. Learning much from the older man (as he did from King Schultz), he discovers that slavery isn’t exclusive to his people, as he even dons the mask of Zorro in their mission of mercy!”

Helgeland’s Story Will Continue the Series

The project is in early development with Helgeland scripting a new story that follows on from the comic series. Interestingly, the Django/Zorro adaptation has been in the works for a while. Talks of adapting the story circulated when the comic was hitting shelves, but momentum quickly faded due to the pandemic. With the rights situation smoothed out, an adaptation of the intriguing union can begin in earnest.

As much as I liked Django Unchained, I wonder how Tarantino’s Django would pair with the savvy and swashbuckling Zorro. Both are smooth-talking, iconic characters with larger-than-life personas. Can that much swagger fit into one cinematic experience? Who would play Django and Zorro? Let us know what you think about this movie in the comments section below.

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