Kurt Russell is in negotiations to replace Kevin Costner in the Quentin Tarantino spaghetti western Django Unchained.

The film follows a slave-turned-bounty hunter (Jaime Foxx) on a mission to rescue his wife from her sadistic slave master (Leonardo Di Caprio).

Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson also star.

Costner was set to play Di Caprio’s number one, yet scheduling conflicts forced him to turn the role down.

Django Unchained will mark Russell’s return to the western genre since playing Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. Ironically Costner also played Wyatt Earp in the 1994 film of the same name.

Production will begin on Django Unchained in November, with a current release of December 25, 2012 in the books.

Source: Variety