Leonardo DiCaprio and Idris Elba Circling Quentin Tarantino's New Movie 'Django Unchained'

There are few hotter projects right now than Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," the story of an escaped slave who teams up with a bounty hunter to reunite with his wife. Rumors have been flying fast and furious about the cast, which right now only includes Christoph Waltz. Will Smith is still considered a front-runner for the lead role, but recent rumors might change that.

First, Idris Elba ("The Wire") put himself at the front of the casting talk for this movie whether he wanted it or not. Over the weekend, he tweeted, "Having one of the biggest meetings of my professional life today...meeting a very controversial director for a very controversial part."

Obviously none of that signifies "Django," but the film is said to have controversial racial overtones. Dealing with slavery at all is touchy, especially put in the context of the near-exploitation movies Tarantino makes. And while one would automatically place this comment in the context of the lead role, it's just as likely Elba is meeting for the role of Stephen, the black slave who's the right hand man of the film's villain, Calvin Candie.

Which brings us to DiCaprio. Depending on who you hear it from, Tarantino has been eager to work with the "Inception" star or Leo really wants to work with Quentin. Either way, they seem unable to make it work - somebody wanted DiCaprio in the Hans Landa role in "Inglourious Basterds," and now he's been at the center of talks surrounding multiple roles in "Django."

Originally, that meant the bounty hunter (Waltz's role), but now that could mean Candie.

This all stems from a tweet this morning from former Creative Screenwriting editor Jeff Goldsmith, which read: "Casting Rumor: Leonardo DiCaprio WILL play villain Calvin Candie in Tarantino's "Django Unchained"! QT wanted him for I.B. & now has him!"

While it's tempting to discard tweets from former magazine editors as just a lot of talk, Goldsmith is very well-connected guy in Hollywood, and as several outlets have pointed out, was the first to put out the word that Will Smith is in serious talks for the film, which has now become accepted doctrine all the way up to Variety.

Right now everything is very much in the rumor mill, but as always, Tarantino's latest is proving an exciting property to watch!