Kerry Washington boards 'Django Unchained'

By Adnan Tezer Oct 27, 2011, 18:04 GMT

Kerry Washington has joined the cast of Quentin Tarantino's new film "Django Unchained."

According to Variety, Tarantino will direct from his own screenplay.

The film will be a spaghetti Western set during the Old South that centers on a slave named Django who teams with a German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz to rescue his slave wife from an evil plantation owner named Calvin Candie.

Jamie Foxx will play Django.

Washington will play his wife.

Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for his role in Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," will play Schultz.

Leonardo DiCaprio will play the sadistic Candie, the owner of a Mississippi plantation called Candyland. Candie forces his male slaves to engage in fights to the death while sexually abusing his female slaves.

Kurt Russell will play Candie's equally sadistic slave trainer, a role that Kevin Costner was set to play but had to pass on due to scheduling conflicts.

Samuel L. Jackson will play Candie's main slave.

Gerald McRaney, Dennis Christopher and Don Johnson have also been cast.

The Weinstein Company will distribute the film domestically while Sony Pictures will distribute overseas.

Stacey Sher, Pilar Savone and Reginald Hudlin are producing.

Production begins in January with a Christmas Day 2012 release date set.

Washington's credits include "For Colored Girls," "Lakeview Terrace," "Miracle at St. Anna" and "The Last King of Scotland."