Matthew McConaughey will lead an all-star cast in his next film… and it’s a Western.
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According to Variety, the Western thriller The Brigands of Rattlecreek will star McConaughey alongside Austin Butler and Pedro Pascal. Rounding out the cast is Chinese star Tang Wei.
The film also boasts impressive talent behind the camera. South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) will direct and adapt the original screenplay by S. Craig Zahler, who also wrote the gruesome 2015 Western-horror mash-up Bone Tomahawk.
Variety also reports that the film is a passion project for Park. It will be up for grabs at the Cannes Film Festival, where the director is also set to serve as president of the competition jury. Patrick Wachsberger’s 193, a Legendary company, will represent the film’s international sales.
Of course, a Cannes package doesn’t guarantee a green light. Financing, scheduling, and distribution are all hurdles that still need to be cleared. However, with Park at the helm of a violent Zahler Western, four major stars in the saddle, and nearly two decades of development history, The Brigands of Rattlecreek is riding into the market with serious momentum.
Matthew McConaughey Has Been Eyed For the Movie Role For Years
The Brigands of Rattlecreek is described as “an iconic tale of vengeance and retribution set in the American West.” According to a synopsis, the film will be “an emotionally explosive and visually stunning meditation on the consequences of violence, the value of family, the power of memory, and the true cost of life.” The project is also being called “a capstone of the themes Park Chan-wook has plumbed across his entire body of work to date.”
Meanwhile, this isn’t McConaughey’s first rodeo with The Brigands of Rattlecreek. After the script landed on the Black List in 2006, Amazon acquired the rights and was eyeing him for the lead role way back in 2019.
Park’s most recent project was the acclaimed crime-comedy No Other Choice. The film debuted at Cannes, earned three Golden Globe nominations, and grossed over $40 million worldwide. His previous English-language works include the limited series The Sympathizer, the miniseries The Little Drummer Girl, and Fox Searchlight’s Stoker.