It does look as though Kurt Russell has joined the cast of Andrew Patterson’s “The Rivals of Amziah King.” Matthew McConaughey had already been announced as the lead back in May.
The film’s exact details are still mystery, but ‘Amziah King’ is rumoured to be a crime thriller set in Oklahoma. Production on the film began in June. The film is one of 39 indie productions, exempt by SAG, that can continue shooting during the strike.
Writer/director Patterson premiered his first film, “The Vast of Night,” at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival. Despite not being a fan, I wrote that he was a major talent to watch. Despite the script’s limitations, the filmmaking was great.
Eventually, Amazon Studios acquired distribution rights to the film, premiered it at TIFF and then released it on May 29, 2020 at drive-in theaters in across the United States.
Although the budget on ‘Vast of Night’ wasn’t divulged, some reports had the total production cost at just under $500,000. There was so much energy, enthusiasm, and a clearcut love for its decades-old influences that many critics praised ‘Vast of Night.’
Meanwhile, McConaughey hasn’t acted in a movie since 2019 where he starred in three of them: “Serenity,” “The Beach Bum” and “The Gentleman.” ‘Amziah King’ will be his first film in over four years.
Now it looks like Bradford Young — who took a sabbatical from movies these last seven or eight years — has attached to the project as DP. This is a welcome surprise.