Django: Release date, cast and everything you need to know about Sky Atlantic's update of the classic Spaghetti Western

Coming to Sky Atlantic with NOW in February, 10-part series Django is inspired by the 1960s Sergio Corbucci cult classic Spaghetti Western.

From the creative team behind Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero, Django is bringing a modern slant to the story and uses the Western genre to tackle themes of feminism, family sagas and psychological strands.

Directed by Francesca Comencini, Django is set in Texas in the late 1800s, following a jaded cowboy in search of the daughter he thought he'd lost.

Secrets from the Set of Django: Behind the scenes with the cast

Here is everything you need to know about Django…

What is the Django UK release date?

Stream Django weekly on Sky Atlantic with NOW from 1 March.

Watch the Django trailer below

Who is in the Django cast?

• Matthias Schoenaerts (The Danish Girl, The Mustang, Bullhead, Rust and Bone) – Plays Django
• Nicholas Pinnock (For Life, Counterpart, Top Boy) – Plays John Ellis visionary founder of the town of New Babylon
• Lisa Vicari, (Luna, Dark) - Plays Django’s daughter Sarah
• Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, What Happened to Monday?) – Plays John’s powerful and ruthless enemy Elizabeth Thurman
• Tom Austen - Plays cowboy Eljiah Turner
• Jyuddah Jaymes - Plays one of John Ellis' sons
• Elliot Edusah - Plays one of John Ellis' sons
• Benny O. Arthur - Plays one of John Ellis' sons
• Eric Kole - Plays one of John Ellis' sonsohn Ellis' sons

Matthias Schoenaerts – Plays Django

"He's the true definition of a loner out for justice and revenge and hopefully, at the end of it all, find peace of mind," said Matthias.

"I mean, Django is obviously a restless soul for numerous reasons, and so whatever mission he's on eventually is driven by the desire to finally settle that unrest within himself. The writers and director wanted to have this iconic, mythical, classic genre and then infuse it with elements of modern day morality and emotionality.

"He lost his entire family, and learns that there's one survivor, his daughter, and he wants to find her, hoping he can finally get rid of the shame and the guilt that he's been carrying. She’s the only thing that maybe gives him a second shot at life."

Lisa Vicari - Plays Sarah

"We meet her in the environment that she created together with John - they built this town called New Babylon, a very utopian place where people who don't have a place elsewhere can be free within that space," said Lisa Vicari, who plays Django's daughter Sarah.

"And she is the midwife of the town. She's kind of the spiritual guide who listens to people and offers guidance. She tries to do the right thing. She tries to see all the people, and she fights for her own place in the world, and for other people. She struggles with it, but she's very determined."

Talking about Sarah's relationship with Django, she added: "They were very close when she was young. He was her idol, and she learned a lot from him. It left a big wound when he left. Now she’s learned how to deal with it. She grew up to be a woman and to have her own voice, and now he reappears and it's stirring up so many different things.

"She tries to handle it, and she's scared about what he will bring to her town. It's so delicate and so fragile. So, she wants him to leave because it's just too much and there's too much trauma but on the other hand, there’s a special bond between father and daughter."

Nicholas Pinnock - Plays John Ellis

"Remove John Ellis from the story, there isn’t a story," explains Nicholas Pinnock.

"He is the reason that Django goes to New Babylon. He is the reason that Elizabeth becomes the nemesis in the show. He is the reason why Sarah doesn’t leave and go back to look for her family.

"Having him as the anchor and the core of the story tells you how important he really is, as a cultural figure within this world and representing a lot of the real people that lived back then that had very instrumental lives within the Wild West and were whitewashed."

Noomi Rapace - Plays Elizabeth Thurman

"I wanted to build a villain with a broken heart," said Noomi.

"What drives her, why and when and how did she become so brutal, angry, and vicious? Where does all the pain come from?

"When you’re asked to play a villain, normally they are cold. But when I saw Joaquim Phoenix as the Joker, he just breaks my heart in every scene. There’s so much life in his eyes and his body language. I wanted to run through something like that myself.

"I loved playing her and she’s definitely one of my most favourite characters.

"She’s drawn into the fire, she can’t resist, she has a dream of something beautiful and she has so much love in her but it’s destroying her at the same time."

How many episodes of Django are there?

The series, which premiered to critical acclaim at the Rome Film Festival in 2022, will have 10 episodes.

The 60-minute episodes will be released weekly to watch on Sky Atlantic with NOW.

What is Django based on?

Django is loosely inspired by the cult classic 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film from director Sergio Corbucci. It has been labelled by critics as the first film in Corbucci’s Mud and Blood trilogy, followed by The Great Silence and The Specialists.

The film gained notoriety at its launch for being one of the most violent films ever made at that time. It starred Franco Nero as Django in a story abut a Union soldier-turned-drifter who becomes embroiled in a feud between Confederate Redshirts and Mexican revolutionaries.

It spawned one official sequel in 1987 starring Nero, Django Strikes Again.

Nero also made a cameo appearance in Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 movie Django Unchained, which also paid homage to the original.

What is the Django plot?

While searching for his daughter, Django comes upon New Babylon, a town at the bottom of a crater where all outcasts are welcome and where everyone is equal and free.

Here, Django discovers that his daughter is alive and set to marry John Ellis, the founder of New Babylon.

Sarah – who blames her father for the death of their family, massacred many years earlier while he was at war – wants Django to leave. But he refuses to give up and does everything in his power to get a second chance with her, becoming a valuable ally for Ellis, who must defend the town from Elizabeth Thurman's attacks.

Unbeknownst to them, Django, John, and Sarah are linked by a web of secrets and a dark past bound to resurface.

How to watch Django in the UK?

In the UK, stream Django weekly on Sky Atlantic with NOW from 1 March.