Look at my shee-yit… again. Yep, what started as iffy-sounding, blog-based rumor a couple of months ago seems now to have become a real thing: Harmony Korine's girls-gone-wild provocation “Spring Breakers” is getting a sequel.
French sales and production company Wild Bunch this morning revealed an intriguing slate of titles that they'll be hawking this month at the Cannes market — the parallel universe of low-profile and/or unproduced projects that runs busily alongside the film festival itself. Among them were a number of exciting-sounding ventures from name directors, including Gaspar Noé, Paul Verhoeven, Arnaud Desplechin and reigning Palme d'Or winner Abdellatif Kechiche.
Naturally, however, the project that has grabbed all the headlines is “Spring Breakers: The Second Coming.” A follow-up that will reportedly feature a mix of old and new cast members — don't count on Selena Gomez returning, at least — it will follow the original Breakers as they declare war on a group of militant Christians out to rescue them from their debauchery.
Unsurprisingly, the first film's writer-director Harmony Korine isn't on board. But get this: the screenplay has been written by Irvine Welsh, the Scottish author of cult novel “Trainspotting.” Swedish director Jonas Akerlund will take the helm: though he's directed three previous features, most recently the Matt Lucas comedy “Small Apartments,” he remains best known for his music videos for such artists as Madonna, Beyoncé, U2 and Lady Gaga.
Wild Bunch head Vincent Maraval states, “It”s not a direct sequel although there are allusions to some of the characters in the original.” Sounds to me like a direct-to-DVD cash-in, in a similar vein to “American Psycho 2” — a mostly unrelated follow-up to a film that, like “Spring Breakers,” boasted more cult cachet than box office muscle. Even if you're one of the many who admired “Spring Breakers” (I wasn't, though it made Kris' Top 10 last year), it seems to me a film best appreciated as a kind of stateless mirage; there's little to be gained from going back there.
Anyway, for more details on Wild Bunch's slate — which includes Kechiche tackling teenage male sexuality this time in “The Real Wound,” and a Nicolas Winding Refn-produced remake of “Maniac Cop” — check out the Screen International rundown here. As for the “Spring Breakers: The Second Coming,” are you down for it? Or is it best to let sleeping Aliens lie? Tell us in the comments.