After creating not just a hit, but a film that seeped into the culture with Spring Breakers, Harmony Korine has had a difficult time getting his next project off the ground. There was his ambitious-sounding crime drama The Trap that never materialized and he still seems to be working on adaptation of the controversial Tampa. Half-a-decade later, it now looks like he’s found his next film and he’s already got a star attached.
Revealed at the European Film Market in Berlin, the film is titled The Beach Bum and will star Matthew McConaughey. The Interstellar star will play Moondog, “a rebellious and lovable rogue who lives life large,” who gets into “hilarious misadventures.” Knowing Korine, who also wrote the script, we can imagine there may be a darker and/or stranger side to the film, which will kick off shooting in July ahead of a likely 2018 premiere.
“In The Beach Bum, Harmony has crafted the perfect movie for our dark and serious time — a refreshingly original, irreverent, and hilarious stoner comedy that only he could create,” producer John Lesher says. “McConaughey’s Moondog character is pure charisma — a force of nature and an uncompromising maverick with a lust for life and everything it throws at him,” adds Thorsten Schumacher, who is handling international sales at Rocket Science.
The project should mark a coup for McConaughey, whose last few lead roles (Gold, The Sea of Trees, and Free State of Jones) signaled an end to the so-called McConaissance. As we await more casting and details, check out Korine’s latest work below, a pair of commercials. [Variety]