Tarantino Once Pitched A Zorro/Django Crossover To Antonio Banderas

Quentin Tarantino has made some true classics throughout his career, ranging from "Pulp Fiction" to an arguable modern classic in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." But the number of movies that Tarantino cooked up that will (or at least may) never see the light of day is truly remarkable.

Some of these never happened merely because Tarantino is very particular about the projects he chooses to take on, and some of them simply couldn't be made because the logistics were far too complicated. That seems to be the case with "Django/Zorro," a movie that would have seen the worlds of "Django Unchained" and "The Mask of Zorro" collide. And, amazingly enough, Tarantino actually pitched the idea to Antonio Banderas, who would have seemingly returned as the masked hero decades after leaving the role behind.

Technically, this all started when the character of Zorro was created in 1919. But in truth, the seed for this idea came from Tarantino, who actually wrote a "Django/Zorro" comic book miniseries back in 2014, collaborating with Matt Wagner. This was just a couple of years removed from 2012's "Django Unchained." It seems this sparked something more inside Mr. Tarantino as, in 2019, it was revealed that he had teamed with Jerrod Carmichael to pen a movie that would see Django and Zorro appear together.

In a recent interview with USA Today, Antonia Banderas, who played Zorro in 1998's "The Mask of Zorro," revealed that Tarantino actually pitched the film to him a couple of years back. The idea was that Banderas would resurrect his version of the character alongside Jamie Foxx as Django. Said Banderas:

"He talked to me, I think on the Oscar night (in 2020) when I was nominated for 'Pain and Glory.' We saw each other at one of those parties. He just came up to me and I was like, 'In your hands? Yeah, man!' Because Quentin just has that nature to do those type of movies and give them quality. Even if they are based on those types of B-movies of the '60s and '70s, he can take that material and do something really interesting. We've never worked together, but it would be great because of him, because of Jamie Foxx and because of (playing) Zorro again when he's a little bit older. It would be fantastic and funny and crazy."

Banderas would reprise the role only once in 2003's "The Legend of Zorro," which was not nearly as well regarded as his first turn in the pulp hero's boots. Unfortunately, it appears as though fans should not get their hopes up for a late-career return in this wild silver screen crossover.

Jerrod Carmichael poured some cold water on the "Django/Zorro" fire and confirmed that the project is "gone." In speaking with GQ about irons that have been pulled out of the fire, this crossover was revealed to be one of them. Apparently, it all just became logistically impossible for Sony Pictures to try and pull together. Be that as it may, Carmichael believes that what he and Tarantino put down on the page would have been a big hit.

"Quentin's a lunatic who I love, and I'm happy that I got to spend the time. We saw exploitation flicks at the New Beverly, he read me scenes that never made it to his movies, that he had typed out, in his kitchen after making fresh-squeezed lemonade for me. It was really special. It's actually an incredible, incredible script that came in from that Django/Zorro that I would love for Sony to figure out, but I realize the impossibility of it. But I still think we wrote a $500 million film."

So, at least for now, that is that. The question still lingers as to what Quentin Tarantino's tenth and final film will be. Is he going to finally make "Kill Bill 3?" Is he going to do something totally original? Will he take on an outside franchise like he was going to do with "Star Trek" and go out on a note of that sort? The only one who knows the answer to that question is Tarantino but we can safely say "Django/Zorro" isn't going to be it.