The Spring Breakers sequel is finally coming. The original 2013 movie, which was the third film ever distributed by A24, was written and directed by Harmony Korine (who later helmed the Matthew McConaughey movie The Beach Bum) and followed college girls robbing a diner to fund their spring break trip and eventually being dragged further into the criminal underworld. After it made back more than six times its reported $5 million budget with a $31.7 million box office haul, multiple follow-ups were scrapped while in development, including the Jonas Åkerlund sequel Spring Breakers: The Second Coming and a web series.

Per Variety, Spring Breakers 2 is officially in the works with Capstone Global and Signature Entertainment’s company Capture kicking off sales at Cannes. The movie, which is тιтled Spring Breakers: Salvation Mountain, will be directed by Matthew Bright (Freeway, Tiptoes) and follow four girls (Bella Thorne, Ariel Martin, Grace Van Dien, and True Whitaker), whose spring break road trip “explodes out of control” to the point that “they’re forced to outrun the chaos they’ve created.”

Capstone Studios is financing the project, which is being produced by Chris Hanley and Jordan Gertner of Muse Productions, who were both producers on the original movie. Read a statement from the duo below:

We’re thrilled to be working with… Capture on Spring Breakers: Salvation Mountain and excited to keep exploring bold, new, disruptive stories around that wild, fever-dream of youth. The desire for Spring Break to go on forever is something we’ve never let go of.

What This Means For Spring Breakers: Salvation Mountain

Its Cast & Crew Are Promising

Even though the cast and crew of Spring Breakers: Salvation Mountain are largely different from the original, they evoke a similar feeling. For instance, Matthew Bright, for whom this will be his first directorial feature since 2002, is known for the transgressive crime movies Freeway, Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby, and 2002’s Ted Bundy, which gives him a similar cult movie background to original director Harmony Korine, whose previous work included the provocative movies Gummo and Trash Humpers.

On top of the director’s credentials, the new movie carries on the legacy of the original Spring Breakers cast, which included Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, and Ashley Benson, by bringing on major up-and-comers. While Thorne (Shake It Up, The DUFF) is more established, Van Dien and Martin are social media personalities who have recently held major roles in Stranger Things and Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2 respectively, while Whitaker recently made her onscreen debut in Godfather of Harlem. Additionally, Martin’s Disney Channel history gives her a similar background to original stars Hudgens (High School Musical) and Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place).

Our Take On Spring Breakers: Salvation Mountain

One Major Figure Does Not Want The Sequel

While it seems like the producers are working hard to evoke the spirit of Spring Breakers, Korine has previously expressed interest in keeping the movie a standalone, saying that “I hope it never happens. It’s one and done,” when asked about the project during a 2023 masterclass in Locarno. His explicit disinclination for the project existing at all may put it on the back foot immediately, because the director was instrumental in providing the first installment with the unique energy that made it a hit, and it therefore may be difficult to dismiss skepticism about the belated, largely unrelated sequel.

Source: Variety