Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Exclusive: John Sayles Will Direct and Write “Django Lives” with Franco Nero

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Django lives, and he’s still played by Franco Nero.

I can tell you that John Sayles, one of my all time favorite directors, has agreed to direct “Django Lives.” It was announced last October that he’d write the screenplay.

“Django Lives” has nothing to do with Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained.” This film will be the third to star Franco Nero as the title character. It’s set 50 years after the first movie. Django is now a horse handler and an extra on the set of D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation.”

Louis Black, Carolyn Pfeiffer, David Hollander and Nancy P. Sanders are the producers.

Sayles, of course, has a long list of great films including “Lone Star,” “Passion Fish,” “Return of the Secaucus 7,” “Matewan,” “Eight Men Out” and “Silver City.” Hard to believe, but he’ll be 66 years old this September when he starts shooting “Django Lives.” He’s due a lot of lifetime awards already and some real recognition as an outstanding filmmaker. I can’t wait to see this one.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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