‘Django Unchained’ First Look: Photos From Quentin Tarantino’s Next

Man, Leonardo DiCaprio looks like Lucifer incarnate in the first official photos from the set of Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming ‘Django Unchained.’ And I don’t even want to think what he intends on doing with that hammer.

The shots come to us from EW.com, which also shares the first pic of Tarantino’s heroes – Jamie Foxx as freed slave Django and Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz, a German bounty hunter who taps Django to help him settle an old score. The film’s currently shooting in Louisiana with an eye on a Dec. 25 release.

DiCaprio’s character isn’t Satan, but from what we know, he’s close enough. The Oscar nominee plays Calvin Candie, head of a controversial Southern plantation where slaves are trained to fight each other in brutal hand-to-hand combat. But when I say “trained,” I really mean forced. And by the look of that hammer, it isn’t a pleasant way that the men are coerced into their scuffles.

In Tarantino’s script, Candie holds Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), which forces the ex-slave and his new German partner to invade Candie’s plantation and earn her freedom. The film is littered with Tarantino veterans, from Samuel L. Jackson to Kurt Russell. The director also found roles for such offbeat character actors as Walton Goggins, James Remar, Anthony LaPaglia and M.C. Gainey.

When asked how Tarantino handled the delicate topic of slavery, Foxx assures EW:

“There’s a beautiful way [Tarantino] found for the characters to talk to each other. It’s mindblowing. You’ve never heard it this way. You’ve seen movies deal with slavery — or westerns that never dealt with slavery – do it the safe way. This way is like … wow.”

We’ll see. Tarantino’s planning on leaving his slavery drama in theaters as a holiday present. So when the kids are done opening their gifts and digging through their stockings, head down to the cinema and take in ‘Django Unchained.’ It’s sure to unseat ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ as an annual Christmas staple, I’m sure.

[UPDATE: The images are now available in hi-res. Click below to enlarge.]