Jonah Hill Rumored for Harmony Korine's 'The Trap'

After landing the likes of Selena Gomez, James Franco, and Vanessa Hudgens for Spring Breakers, Harmony Korine is looking to add even bigger names for his next film, The Trap. We recently learned that Jamie Foxx and Benicio Del Toro were eying roles in the long-developing crime drama, and that Robert Pattinson may be involved as well, but now a rumor has surfaced that Jonah Hill could be next to come aboard.

The story comes from The Tracking Board (grain of salt time), who say Hill is "attached to appear" in the film about " two childhood friends now in their mid-to-late 30s — one of whom is very successful and the other has spent the majority of his adult life in jail. On the eve of a big recognition for the successful man, the other is released from jail and determined to get even." It doesn't sound like the kind of controversial effort we're used to from Korine, but then again it's almost certainly not going to be a straight-up crime picture, either. It would be another interesting move for Hill, who has a role in the Coen Brothers' Hail Caesar.

So we'll see what happens. Filming on The Trap begins early next year,

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Harmony Korine Sets 'The Trap' for Benicio Del Toro and Jamie Foxx

The last we heard from Spring Breakers director Harmony Korine, he was said to be working on The Trap, his long-developing Southern Gothic crime drama that may or may not star Robert Pattinson. He told Bullett Media a couple of months ago...

"The script is written. I’m putting the cast together right now, it’s going to be my most ambitious film, and I’m really just going to go for it. It’s some next level shit. It’s a revenge movie, a sprawling, very intense… I don’t want to give away too much, but we’re probably going to start shooting in Miami after the New Year. I’m goin’ for it."

And it appears he wasn't kidding as THR reports Korine has landed Jamie Foxx and Benicio Del Toro to star in the film, while dropping some new plot details. The crime thriller centers on " two childhood friends now in their mid-to-late 30s — one of whom is very successful and the other has spent the majority of his adult life in jail. On the eve of a big recognition for the successful man, the other is released from jail and determined to get even."

It's unclear who will play which character, but does it really matter? Foxx, Del Toro, and possibly Pattinson under the unpredictable guidance of Korine? Sounds pretty awesome. Foxx and Del Toro are both coming off villainous turns in superhero movies, appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy, respectively. Foxx will be seen later this year in the musical Annie, while Del Toro has a role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice. Filming on The Trap is set to begin early next year

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James Franco May be a KKK Leader in Harmony Korine's 'A Crack Up at the Race Riots'

As if James Franco's rappin' thug Alien wasn't strange enough in Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, he also had a pair of weird twins tagging along with him. Their real names are Sidney and Thurman Sewell, better known as the ATL Twins, and they're pretty screwed up in real life, too. Does that make them the most honest of sources in breaking movie news? Maybe, maybe not, but the news they have is pretty cool nonetheless.

The duo told the New York Post's (awful) Page Six that Franco is set to star in an adaptation of Korine's twisted novel, A Crack Up at the Race Riots, and if you thought Spring Breakers was controversial just check out what they say say about the actor's role...

“[Franco’s] going to be like a KKK leader and we’re gonna be his goons. It’s really strange, in a good way."

Strange isn't even the word, because the story takes place in a world in which MC Hammer leads the black people and Vanilla Ice controls the whites. And it takes place in Florida, meaning Franco might be able to break out that interchangeable southern accent he used in both Spring Breakers and Homefront.

It's unclear if Korine has any involvement with the film but considering it's his book, which was re-issued last year, that wouldn't be much of a surprise. Hopefully more info will drop on this soon, assuming the twins weren't just yanking our gold chains.  Check out the book's synopsis below.

Originally published by Mainstreet/Doubleday in 1998, this debut novel from an underground filmmaker uses print, photographs, drawings, news clippings, handwriting, a poem, attempted diagrams, and clip art to enhance the text, which primarily tells of a race war that happens in Florida, where the Jewish people sit in trees, the black people are run by MC Hammer, and the white people are run by Vanilla Ice. Or as the author himself described it front of a national television audience, "I wanted to write the Great American Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Novel." In actuality, it is a collection of hard-luck stories, off-and-on-color jokes, script scraps, found letters, free rhymes, drug flashbacks, and other missing scenes, all exploring the world of show business with fingers prying in the cracks and feet set lightly in the black humors of the real world. With chapters about books found in Monty Clift's basement and Tupac Shakur's 10 favorite novels, and a set of 11 suicide notes with room included for the reader's signature, the book is a one-of-a-kind post-postmodern examination of the dangers of public life from a unique voice in independent culture, one that might make William S. Burroughs sigh and turn the page at least.

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Awards push for "Spring Breakers" begins with James Franco clip

Is it James Franco's "American dream" to win an Oscar? Well, one of the best parts of his role as Alien in Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers" was his discussion of how he's living the American Dream with "all my shit," so perhaps Franco is looking to add a little golden man to that mix.

As the awards season push begins, it looks like film distribution production company A24 is hoping for voters to remember Franco's performance - and they've released a sizzle reel to remind us all of the insanity. To be fair, Franco was pretty great in "Spring Breakers," but is it realistic to think he'll get nominated when Jared Leto and Michael Fassbender also gave great performances in "The Dallas Buyers Club" and "12 Years a Slave"? It's possible, and you can make your own decision after viewing the video.

Although, I must say: James Franco didn't care enough about the Oscars when he was hosting with Anne Hathaway that year. But now he wants win one? Hmm.

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Harmony Korine, Holly Hunter, and Chris Messina Join David Gordon Green's 'Manglehorn'

Whether one appreciated David Gordon Green's smallish buddy comedy Prince Avalanche (our own Rocky Hadadi sure didn't), it at least represents a stylistic return to form for the director. Once an indie darling thanks to films like George Washington and my personal favorite of his All the Real Girls, Green pulled a fast one on his fans by directing stoner flicks Pineapple Express, The Sitter, and the abysmal Your Highness. At the very least it marked him as a cinematic chameleon, and lately he's been going back to his roots a little bit.

Green has managed to snag Al Pacino for his upcoming film, the oddly-titled Manglehorn, and now he's added a Spring Breakers director Harmony Korine, Holly Hunter, and Chris Messina to the cast. Written by Green and Paul Logan, the story centers on the title character, "an ex-con living a hermetic existence who 40 years earlier had given up the woman he loves for one big job. As he begins the process of making up for his mistakes, a dramatic event exposes his dark past to the public."

While it may seem strange to cast Korine, Green has been pretty upfront about the influence he's drawn from his films, in particular 1997's Gummo, which has mostly been crushed by critics but has amassed a number strong supporters. Korine also appeared briefly in Park Chan-Wook's Stoker earlier this year. Messina has been splashing around in the HBO pool as part of The Newsroom, and Hunter was terrific in Jane Campion's Top of the Lake.

Filming on Manglehorn begins this fall.[TheWrap/Deadline]

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Southern crime story may be next for 'Spring Breakers' director Harmony Korine

Controversial or not, Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers is already a hit, certainly the biggest of his career. The film got off to an impressive start in very limited release, earning more than $90K per site, ranking as one of the best averages of all-time. Before the film starts hitting multiplexes in a few days, Korine is already looking forward to what's coming up next.

Deadline reports that John Lesher (End of Watch) and DCM Productions will produce Korine's next directorial effort, an untitled film that "involves a multi-generational family of criminals in the South". While is expected to be next on his list, Korine is also developing projects with Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, who picked up and distributed Spring Breakers.

For the most part, Korine's films have appealed to a very small segment of people, but Spring Breakers marks his first foray into the semi-mainstream. It'll be interesting to see if he continues down that path or if he returns to more experimental pursuits.

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Sure Shots: Jason Clarke; John Boyega; 'Spring Breakers'

* Fresh off playing one of the brass-knuckle Bondurant boys in Lawless, Jason Clarke will now play Abraham Lincoln's father in The Green Blade Rises. We first learned about the film back in July when Diane Kruger came aboard as Sarah Lincoln, the President's stepmother who had a major influence on his upbringing. Produced by Terrence Malick and written/directed by his protege, A.J. Edwards, the film follows Lincoln's tough childhood that helped build him into the integral figure in our country's history that we all know. [Deadline]

* After being rumored for it back in March, John Boyega(Attack the Block) is confirmed to star in the indie sci-fi film, Creeping Zero. Co-starring Ashley Hinshaw(About Cherry), Adam Deacon, and Eddie Marsan(Sherlock Holmes), the film is set 60 years in the future and follows the Creeping Zero team charged with saving humanity from face-stealing alien race. Filming begins in Budapest on October 29th.

* Reason to celebrate! Annapurna Pictures has scooped up the rights to Harmony Korine's crazy comedy, Spring Breakers, not long after it screened to press at the Venice International Film Festival. James Franco plays a cornrowed, blinged-out drug dealer, while Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, and Rachel Korine are the four bikini clad girls he springs from prison for a wild spring break. Hopefully this means we'll be getting a release date soon.

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1st clip from Harmony Korine's 'Spring Breakers' with Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez

Whoa. I hope you didn't just watch that clip from The Perks of Being a Wallflower and now are about to check out this bit from Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers. The whiplash contrast in the depiction of out-of-step teens is liable to snap your neck. Where 'Perks' deals rather astutely with those who embody their emotional pain, Spring Breakers is the crazy story of a bunch of screwed up girls who just don't give a f**k about anything.

Adding to the further corruption of Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, Spring Breakers centers on four college-aged girls who get thrown in the slammer after robbing a fast food joint so they could have enough money for their annual vacation. Ok, that's a little weird but when you throw in that James Franco is playing a rappin', dreadlocked drug dealer who bails them out so they can kill his partner, it just gets downright strange.

This clip doesn't give us any of that stuff, though. Instead we get Gomez in her jail cell droning on about how everything's the same, while Hudgens pretends to shoot things with her fingers. There's no release date yet, but you can expect Spring Breakers to draw some attention at Venice and Toronto in the coming weeks....

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More images of Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez in 'Spring Breakers'

Raise your hands: Who else is hoping we may some day get a double feature of Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, and Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring? Anybody? Between both films, I don't know which one has me more confused over the tone,  Korine has a history of aiming dead opposite of what we'd call the "mainstream", yet the film is full of Disney Channel starlets, now all grown up and looking to get a little dirty. For that reason alone it's a movie worth getting amped up for.

A handful of new images of Spring Breakers have emerged, giving us more looks at Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Co. in their bikinis. Not complaining one iota. Let's not forget the presence of James Franco, who plays a rappin' drug dealer who springs the girls out of jail after they rob a fast food joint. Korine wackiness at its fullest will soon follow, no doubt. Spring Breakers left out of Cannes without a distribution deal, so who knows when we'll actually see it. Check out the photos below, and try to keep your mind out of the gutter...[JoBlo]

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James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, and Emma Roberts join Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers

To be honest, avant garde filmmaker Harmony Korine lost me a long time ago. He burst onto the scene and became a name to watch after writing the groundbreaking Kids way back in 1995. Since then his films have been so weird I just sorta gave up. In 1999 he gave us Julian Donkey Boy, a strange, stagnant film notable only for it's oddball cinematic style. The next film I saw from him was the dismal Ken Park, which I've said many times is the worst movie I've ever seen. Period. Somebody gave it to me thinking I would dig it, and that person is no longer a friend.

Korine's experimental style has attracted a lot of fans, though. Not the least of which is James Franco, who has been working with the director on various projects throughout the year. The duo are in the process of pairing up for Korine's next feature film, which sounds like a departure even for him.

Variety reports that Franco and Emma Roberts will star in Spring Breakers, which Korine will both write and direct. Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez are in talks to join the film as well, which will be far darker than anything they've ever been attached to. This ain't Ramona and Beezus.  The story will focus on four college age girls who rob a fast food joint to pay for their spring break trip, but get tossed in jail. Franco will play a rappin' arms and drug dealer who bails them out and convinces the girls to kill his rival. Seriously.

Franco seems to have a thing about playing criminals and dealers in particular. Just look at Due Date, Pineapple Express, and most recently his hilarious cameo in The Green Hornet. So we know he'll be good to go in this. Hudgens is out of the teeny bopper thing after starring in Sucker Punch and the upcoming Frozen Ground, and Roberts has been tackling heavier material for awhile now. But Gomez? This is a serious change of pace for her. I can't wait to see how this pans out.  Production is set to kick off during spring break in Florida.

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