Kurt Russell and Sacha Baron Cohen have both reportedly dropped out of Quentin Tarantino's latest film Django Unchained.

Russell was slated to play the role of Ace Woody, a villan who trains slaves to fight each other for public amusement. The role was previously assigned to Kevin Costner, however the veteran actor dropped out citing scheduling difficulties. It's unclear who will now replace the replacement.

News of Russell's exit was broken earlier today when Variety reporter Jeff Sneider tweeted:

@TheInSneider
Jeff Sneider

EXCLUSIVE: First KEVIN COSTNER, and now KURT RUSSELL has EXITED the cast of QT's DJANGO UNCHAINED. No reason given or replacement named...

May 10, 2012 1:51 am via web Reply Retweet Favorite

Sacha Baron Cohen also revealed that his planned cameo won’t happen due to a scheduling conflict earlier this week when he appeared on The Howard Stern Show.

So who is left in Tarantino's Django Unchained? A film which the director described as a 'Southern' - a Spaghetti Western set in the South.

It stars Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz).

And there are plenty more big names still attached to the cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington.

Django Unchained opens in the UK on 18 January 2013.