Tarantino's Django Unchained set for Christmas 2012

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained will be released on 25 December 2012.

The release date is probably only for the US, but the UK release date is likely to be close to that.

Django Unchained follows the story of a freed American slave who teams up with a German bounty hunter to save his wife from Calvin Candie, an evil plantation owner.

The film has so far almost recruited Christoph Waltz, Samuel L Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Jamie Foxx is now rumoured to be the frontrunner for the role of Django, with Idris Elba and Chris Tucker also circling the role.

Tarantino released Jackie Brown around Christmas in 1997, but in 2012 he has The Hobbit , Man of Steel (Superman), Star Trek 2 and Life of Pi (Ang Lee's latest) to contend with.

What a very merry Christmas that will be.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.