Director/cinephile Quentin Tarantino already locked Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz in the lead roles for the upcoming Django Unchained. With those big names on the marquee, it’s no surprise Tarantino’s reaching deep into the annals of cinematic geekdom to fill some of the film’s more minor roles with cult movie celebrities.
Horror legend Tom Savini is the latest such figure to join the Django cast. According to the Coventry Telegraph, he’s set to play Elvis Brittle, slave owner and one of the three Brittle brothers, the outlaws who rape Django’s wife and brand his cheek with an R for runaway.
Genre fans know Savini as the man behind the special effects for George A. Romero‘s ____ of the Dead series, Friday the 13th, and Creepshow. Tarantino fans will recognize him from his role as Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn.
Django Unchained tells the story of Django (Foxx), a freed slave who sets out to rescue his wife, Broomhilda, from the brutal Mississippi plantation boss Calvin Candie (DiCaprio). Samuel L. Jackson appears as Candie’s house slave, Stephen. Waltz plays Dr. King Schultz, a bounty hunter who is after the Brittle brothers.
Filming is set to start in New Orleans in November. Django Unchained hits theaters Christmas Day 2012.
What other cult film stars do you hope to see in Django Unchained?