EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures is moving forward with a most intriguing movie mashup. The studio has set Academy Award winner Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, LA Confidential) to write Django/Zorro for a big-screen continuation of a story that was hatched in a 7-issue crossover comic book series co-written by Quentin Tarantino and Matt Wagner and published by Dynamite Entertainment.

The comic was published back in 2014 and was considered maybe the closest Tarantino might come to a sequel in the continuation of the adventures of the slave-turned-bounty hunter played by Jamie Foxx in the 2012 film Django Unchained. Tarantino directed that film, but won’t helm this one, though I understand that this film has his blessing to move forward at Sony where he’s expected to make his final film as director.

The project is in early development with Helgeland scripting a new story that follows on from the comic series. In that comic, Django continued to track despicable prey as bounty hunter, and developed a kinship with Don Diego de la Vega, who was played by Anthony Hopkins in the 1998 TriStar film The Mask of Zorro, where Don Diego passed on the Zorro mantle to Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) in the 1998 Martin Campbell-directed film.

The comic collaboration between Tarantino and the Eisner-Award winning comic creator Wagner created great hopes for a movie at the time. There was discussion, but momentum seemed snuff by the pandemic. Now, the rights are all cleaned up to move forward with Helgeland, whose vehicles with strong leading men also include Man on Fire, 42 and Legend. As Tarantino sorts his tenth and final film as director, he’s got a lot going on. His debut play The Popinjay Cavalier is headed for a West End premiere early next year. And Brad Pitt continues his Oscar-winning Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood character in The Adventures of Cliff Booth. Tarantino wrote that film to direct, but changed his mind and Pitt turned to his Fight Club helmer David Fincher to direct the film for Netflix.

Both Helgland and Tarantino are repped by WME. Sony Pictures had no comment.