Everyone is currently talking about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but there’s another official sequel to a classic action movie you should be excited about. No, they haven’t finally decided to make Tango vs. Cash (but hopefully someday Stallone will get my letters). It’s another film in the official Django series of spaghetti westerns, starring Franco Nero – the original “Django” – and written by Oscar nominee John Sayles (Lone Star), who is one of the best writers in the industry.
What’s incredible is that the news, originally from Hollywood Reporter, went almost completely underneath everybody’s radar. That’s what happens when we all value news about the same dozen franchises instead of… well, news about this particular franchise, which has been non-existent for decades.
Released in 1966, the original Django was a rain-soaked tale of horrible revenge, with an iconic score and unforgettable imagery, like a hero (Nero) who makes his first appearance dragging a coffin through the mud. What’s inside the coffin is, as those who have seen Django can attest, pretty incredible.
Directed by Sergio Corbucci, Django was one of the most violent movies ever made at the time of its release. It helped usher in a new era of ultraviolent spaghetti westerns, and Django himself became an international sensation. There are over 30 films that supposedly feature the character of Django, although only Django 2, from 1987, is an official sequel.
The other movies simply took the name and style and concocted their own outlandish stories, just like Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning western Django Unchained, in which Franco Nero had a notable cameo role. Many western films also renamed themselves “Django Something or Other” in Django‘s wake, in an attempt to cash in on the hit franchise.
Franco Nero is 73, so one can only wonder how much action he will be able to take part in for Django Lives!. Then again, Sylvester Stallone is 69 and he’s pretty active in all of those Expendables movies. Either way, we’re confident that John Sayles has something special up his sleeve. His career has been spent switch-hitting between genre classics (Piranha, The Howling) and some of the best dramas of the last several decades (Lone Star, Limbo), and we can’t wait to see what he has in store Django, and for us all.
Photo: The Weinstein Company
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
