According to THR, the indie drama White Boy Rick is in discussions with none other than Matthew McConaughey. As the 47-year old talks terms with the studio over the upcoming project.
Directed by Yann Demange, the flick is scripted by Logan and Noah Miller. The film is a biopic and will tell the story of Richard Wershe Jr. living in 1980s Detroit.
He was known as a drug kingpin living amongst an African-American-dominated society. At the age of 17 he received a mandatory life sentence after being caught with 17 pounds of cocaine. McConaughey is expected to portray Wershe’s father with Studio 8 buying the rights to the story last year.
Studio Getting Their Team Prepared Ahead of Star Names
McConaughey is the biggest name tenuously linked to the movie, as Studio 8 puts in the building blocks for those players that will transform the script into a completed motion picture. With the team of producers planning to begin production next March in 2017, they have pinpointed Michigan and Ohio as the ideal setting to begin shooting next year.
LBI Entertainment are joining the fold alongside Studio 8, which will bring their own development team. Darren Aronofsky and Scott Franklin are coming on board via their own company Protozoa Pictures. All to better work on the biopic with the help of Jon Silk and John Lesher.
Rick A Fascinating Case Study In Drug and Crime Culture
McConaughey is a busy man right now. He is set to feature in upcoming movies Sing, The Dark Tower and Gold. But this drama based on the events of Richard Wershe Jr. is an intriguing insight into his life and the eventual incarceration. At the tender age of 14, he became an undercover informant for local and federal law enforcement and essentially lead a double life.
The backdrop makes this narrative ever more engaging, with McConaughey to play a blue-collar factory worker trying to keep his family together as the automotive industry collapses around them. Questions till this day still remain around the role of the feds. Especially when considering how much of a role they played in Wershe's eventual downfall. And if they secure the McConaissance himself, it might create some Oscar buzz.
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