Claim: Will Smith was considered for the title role of Django Unchained before it went to Jamie Foxx.

Django Unchained is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino , starring Jamie Foxx , Christoph Waltz , Leonardo DiCaprio , Kerry Washington , and Samuel L. Jackson , with Walton Goggins , Dennis Christopher , James Remar , Michael Parks , and Don Johnson in supporting roles . Set in the Old West and Antebellum South , it is a highly stylized tribute to Spaghetti Westerns , in particular the 1966 Italian film Django by Sergio Corbucci , whose star Franco Nero has a cameo appearance .   Development of Django Unchained began in 2007 when Tarantino was writing a book on Sergio Corbucci . By April 2011 , Tarantino sent his final draft of the script to The Weinstein Company . Casting began in the summer of 2011 , with Michael K. Williams and Will Smith being considered for the role of the title character before Foxx was cast . Principal photography took place from November 2011 to March 2012 in California , Wyoming and Louisiana .   Django Unchained premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 11 , 2012 , and was released on December 25 , 2012 in the United States . The film was nominated for several film industry awards , including five Academy Awards . Waltz won several awards for his performance , among them Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes , BAFTAs , and Academy Awards . Tarantino won an Academy Award , a Golden Globe , and a BAFTA award for writing the film 's original screenplay . The film grossed over $ 425 million worldwide in theaters against its $ 100 million budget , making it Tarantino 's highest-grossing theatrical release .