If Twitter rumours turn out to be true, then Leonardo DiCaprio may have landed the part of main villain Calvin Candie in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained .
The tweet, which came from Creative Screenwriting editor Jeff Goldsmith, appeared on Monday night, saying: “DiCaprio WILL play villian Calvin Candie in Tarantino‘s Django Unchained!” It went on to say: “QT wanted him for I.B. & now has him!”
While we've been waiting for this to be either confirmed or denied, bloggers noted yesterday that Goldsmith was also responsible for breaking the news of Will Smith's involvement (as the titular slave-hero Django).
At least it looks like Goldsmith's hype-building tweets may at least hold some truth; it appears that Will Smith is indeed in talks, though Idris Elba has also emerged as a favourite for the part.
Depending on which source you believe, Tarantino either wanted DiCaprio - or DiCaprio lobbied Tarantino - for the Hans Landa role in Inglourious Basterds , before the multi-lingual Christoph Waltz won the part.
Django Unchained has room enough for both actors, with Waltz confirmed for the role of Dr Shulz, leaving main villain Calvin Candie open for DiCaprio.
This is early days yet, but the prospect of DiCaprio as a Tarantino villain has us sold.
With Christoph Waltz and either Idris Elba or Will Smith on board, Django Unchained looks set to vie with The Dark Knight Rises for most anticipated film over the next 12 months.
