Will Smith is now the main contender to portray the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming spaghetti Western ‘Django Unchained,’ The Hollywood Reporter is claiming. The film follows the slave Django as he searches for his wife with a German bounty hunter in the Old South. Also up for main roles are Tarantino alum Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz.

While the movie will be distributed by the Weinstein Co. domestically, Tarantino is currently looking at several studios, including Universal, Sony, Paramount and Warner Bros., to distribute ‘Django Unchained’ internationally. The director is also trying to work out a financial deal with Smith, which is why the actor hasn’t been officially cast yet. But he and his reps have received the screenplay, and are considering the role.

Waltz is up for the role of the bounty hunter. Jackson is being considered for the role of the manipulative slave of an evil plantation owner, Monsieur Calvin Candie.

Written by: Karen Benardello