Hall H: Django Unchained Footage and Panel SDCC 2012

Published on Jul 17th, 2012
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Written by Ryan Hamelin
RyanHamelin@TheCinemaSource.com

Hall H on Saturday was easily one of the craziest experiences I’ve had working for the site. Got in line at 4am, and there was already a good 2,000 people in front of me. Spent the morning asleep on the sidewalk behind the convention center, and then eventually made my way into the 6,500 seat theater. First up, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and it would set the tone for the rest of the panels that day.

Tarantino informed us that we would be seeing an 8 minute long sizzle reel for the film that was basically an extended trailer. Scenes from the trailer were lengthened and fleshed out, beats were given more context, and the movie took shape in front of us. The craziest part is that this reel was produced for the theater owners at CinemaCon, and when it was made, they were only halfway through shooting. Therefore, none of the shots you’ve seen in the trailers or any other marketing are from any later than the first half of the film.

The lights came up, and the whole cast came out on stage. Here are my observations from the panel:

Quentin had the original idea for the film 13 years ago.

There’s still another week or so of filming left on the movie, due out at Christmas.

Jamie Foxx was told by Tarantino that he wasn’t sure if Jamie would be able to “become the slave” he needed to be at the start of the film.

We got to see a lot more of Don Johnson’s plantation owner in the footage, and he’s quite funny in the part.

During prep for the movie, Tarantino brought up a film that Johnson had been in which he didn’t even remember making.

Christoph Waltz only gets to speak 2 languages in this film, something he found disappointing.

Kerry Washington learned German and performed a nursery rhyme instead of whistling as had been originally scripted. Tarantino says the scene works far better this way. Kerry, it turns out, can’t whistle, prompting the change.

The tooth sculpture that bobs around on the top of Waltz’s cart is absolutely hilarious, and is featured fairly prominently in the footage.

Tarantino doesn’t rule out a Kill Bill Volume 3, but says it was always his intention to take at least 10 years away from the bride before considering a return.

And with that, we were on to our next major panel… Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim.

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