First look: Tarantino's Django Unchained (+trailer)

Leonard DiCaprio in a scene from Quentin Tarantino's new film Django Unchained. Photo / Supplied

He's made a horror film, a gangster crime caper and a war flick - but Quentin Tarantino has never made a western.

That's about to change with Django Unchained, Tarantino's attempt at a western set in the Deep South and starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L Jackson.

The film, set two years before the Civil War, is about a slave (Foxx) searching for freedom and his wife through a bounty hunter, played by Christopher Waltz.

The trailer shows off plenty of black humour, Tarantino's trademark violence and several uses of the 'n' word.

Foxx has already admitted the film could be controversial.

He told Empire magazine: "When this movie's done, there's gonna be some hot button issues, but given my background, I think I'll be able to get some points across.

"The one thing that stuck out to me in the script was that Django was married. Back then, to be married was taboo.

"This is a love story. He's not trying to stop slavery. He's not trying to do anything but find the love of his life - which is like trying to find a needle in a world of haystacks."

Django Unchained is set for release on December 25 in the US.

Watch the first trailer for Django Unchained:

- Herald online