Cannes: Matthew McConaughey Joins ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’

Matthew McConaughey is set to star in The Rivals of Amziah King, a crime thriller written and directed by The Vast of Night helmer Andrew Patterson.

Black Bear Pictures and Heyday Films are producing the upcoming feature, with Black Bear International kicking off international pre-sales at the Cannes film market next week. WME Independent is handling U.S. rights.

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Plot details are being kept under wraps, but McConaughey will play the title role of Amziah King in the feature, which is set in the remote areas of Oklahoma. David Heyman (Gravity, the Harry Potter franchise) will produce through his Heyday Films, together with Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler from Black Bear. Executive producers include Heyday’s Rob Silva, and Black Bear’s John Friedberg and Christopher Casanova.

Amziah King will be Patterson’s follow-up to his well-received feature debut. The Vast of Night premiered at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival and was picked up by Amazon Studios worldwide. The 1950s-set sci-fi mystery won Patterson the Bingham Ray breakthrough director honor at the 2021 Gotham Awards and earned him an Independent Spirit Award for best first screenplay, shared with co-writer Craig W. Sanger.

The film joins Black Bear swelling Cannes market slate, alongside the Max Minghella’s high-concept thriller Shell starring Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerberand; the romantic epic On Swift Horses starring Daisy Edgar Jones, Jacob Elordi and Will Poulter; and an untitled Guy Ritchie-directed action film starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill, and Eiza González.

McConaughey and Patterson are represented by WME. Greenfield is repped by APA.

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