“Spring Breakers” fans may have ordered a celebratory round of shots when they heard there’s a sequel in the works, but there’s at least one person who isn’t happy about it: Alien himself, James Franco.
In fact, he’s pretty angry about the whole thing.
The follow-up — which is tentatively titled “Spring Breakers: The Second Coming” and follows the girls at war with “an extreme militant Christian sect that attempts to convert them” — is not being directed by Harmony Korine, but rather by Swedish filmmaker Jonas Akerlund, known primarily for his music videos.
Wild Bunch, the Paris-based production house behind “The Second Coming,” clarified that it’s not a “direct sequel,” but there will be “allusions” to some of the characters from the 2013 film. Wild Bunch co-chief Vincent Maraval said it will feature a mix of new and old cast, but without Korine in the director’s chair, none of the original’s principal actors have jumped on board.
And according to Franco, they shouldn’t. During Oscars season, the actor heavily campaigned for a Best Supporting Actor nod and insisted that despite its perception as another flick about hard-partying and drugs, “it is one of the movies of the year.” And that’s precisely why he’s so upset that the folks at Wild Bunch are producing a follow-up without Korine’s consent. In a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday (May 14), he warned that anyone who does sign up for the “weak” sequel is boarding a “poison ship.”
“This is not being done with Harmony Korine or my consent. The original was wholly Harmony’s creation and these producers are capitalizing on that innovative film to make money on a weak sequel,” he wrote. “I want everyone to know that whoever is involved in the sequel is jumping on board a poison ship. It will be a terrible film, with a horrible reason d’être: to make money off someone else’s creativity. Can you imagine someone making the sequel to ‘Taxi Driver’ without Scorcese and DeNiro’s consents? Insanity! I’m speaking up for Harmony and his original vision and for any creative person who cares about preserving artistic integrity.”
Wild Bunch will seek to sell the film at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
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