Matthew McConaughey to Lead Crime Thriller, 'The Rivals of Amziah King'

by Darian Scalamoni

    Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club) seems to always be in the news. Whether it's being the Minister of Culture at the University of Texas, having a voice role as Elvis Presley for Netflix or potentially taking over the Dutton ranch on Yellowstone, he manages to stir up attention, no matter what.

    The latest is that McConaughey will lead the crime thriller, The Rivals of Amziah King, per THR. The film will be written and directed by Andrew Patterson (The Vast of Night) and though plot details are not available at this time, we can confirm that McConaughey will play the titular character, Amziah King. We also know that the movie will take place in certain remote areas of Oklahoma. 

    The Rivals of Amziah King serves as the long-awaited follow-up to Patterson's indie hit, The Vast of Night, which took place in the 1950s revolving around a switchboard operator and radio DJ that discover a strange audio frequency that could potentially change the future forever. That film screened at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival before being picked up to stream on Amazon. 

    McConaughey most recently lead the voice cast for Netflix's animated series Agent Elvis playing the late, great Elvis Presley in the "Archer-type" show. He's also been heavily connected to the new incarnation of Yellowstone that Paramount is shifting towards with Kevin Costner's imminent exit from the popular cable series. We had also previously reported that the Oscar-winner will re-team with his True Detective co-star, Woody Harrelson for an Apple comedy series.