Matthew McConaughey Headshot - photo cred. Vida McConaughey

Source: Vida McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey will star in Andrew Patterson’s The Rivals Of Amziah King, a crime thriller from Black Bear and Heyday Films.

Black Bear International will launch international sales on the title at next week’s Cannes market, with WME Independent representing US rights.

Plot details are under wraps; the film is described as ‘a deeply atmospheric, character-focused crime thriller set against the unique backdrop of remote Oklahoma’. McConaughey will play the title role of Amziah King.

The film will be written and directed by US filmmaker Patterson, who won the best narrative feature audience award for his debut feature The Vast Of Night at Slamdance Film Festival in 2019.

Black Bear Pictures will fully finance the title, with Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler producing with Heyday’s David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford, Will Greenfield and Patterson. Executive producers include Heyday’s Rob Silva and Black Bear’s John Friedberg and Christopher Casanova.

Heyman described Patterson as “a remarkable talent with a singular vision”, while Schwarzman said Patterson and McConaughey “are sure to deliver audiences a truly original and compelling film.”

Amziah King joins a Black Bear slate that also includes Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money starring Paul Dano, Sebastian Stan, Seth Rogen and Pete Davidson; Michael Mohan’s horror Immaculate starring Sydney Sweeney; and The Marsh King’s Daughter directed by Neil Burger and starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn.