Jerrod Carmichael isn’t fond of holding onto dead weight, and lately, he’s been trimming the fat concerning defunct film projects. While speaking with GQ about his recent HBO special, Rothaniel, Carmichael got honest about where he’s at in life and offered updates about various opportunities that have flatlined. While Carmichael still has several irons in the fire, the comedian says the Django meets Zorro project with Quentin Tarantino is dead. The same goes for the 48 Hours remake he was writing with the Safdie brothers.
“All those irons in the fire are gone. I love getting rid of irons,” Carmicheal told GQ. Carmicheal says the ship has sailed in the Django meets Zorro project, but “Quentin’s a lunatic who I love, and I’m happy that I got to spend the time. We saw exploitation flicks at the New Beverly, he read me scenes that never made it to his movies, that he had typed out, in his kitchen after making fresh-squeezed lemonade for me. It was really special. It’s actually an incredible, incredible script that came in from that Django/Zorro that I would love for Sony to figure out, but I realize the impossibility of it. But I still think we wrote a $500 million film.”
Despite the Django meets Zorro project not working out, it sounds like Carmichael’s time with Tarantino was well spent. The price tag for that production, though! Woof! It sounds like both Carmichael and Tarantino have “Go big or go home” attitudes regarding filmmaking.
As for Carmichael’s 48 Hours project, that opportunity is gone. However, Carmichael says that he and the Safdies are still “talking about new ideas.” He’s hoping the stars align for them on something in the future, as I’m sure they can produce something unique.
Are you disappointed to hear that Carmichael is through working on the Django meets Zorro project and the 48 Hours remake? Which one did you want to see more? Do you think someone else will pick up the torch, or are both projects dead? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.