Bella Thorne to Write, Direct 'Spring Breakers' Sequel
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- Bella Thorne announced on Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast that she has stepped into the director's chair for the "Spring Breakers" sequel, a role previously held by Matthew Bright, who directed the 1996 film "Freeway."
- Producers asked Thorne to write something after watching an early cut of her directorial debut "Color Your Hurt," a coming-of-age thriller about a young gay man seeking acceptance in a hostile community that wrapped production in October.
- Variety exclusively announced the sequel in May 2025, with a cast that includes Grace Van Dien ("Stranger Things"), Ariel Martin ("Zombies 2") and True Whitaker ("I Love L.A.").
- Thorne drew a contrast with the 2012 original, calling that era "exploitative" and saying she, Miley Cyrus, Zendaya, and Selena Gomez — who starred in the original — were all compared as "who was going to be that next bad girl."
- Original team members Chris Hanley ("American Psycho," "The Virgin Suicides") and Jordan Gertner ("Bully") of Muse Productions are involved, but Harmony Korine is not, having previously said he has "no interest" in the sequel.
- Thorne teased the film as "so litty, litty McTitties" and "from start to finish, it's lit as fuck," telling fans "if you want to go to the theater and have fun, you're going to have fun with this movie."
Why it matters: A first-time director with one indie credit — and no writing credit on record — now controls a legacy IP sequel as writer, director, and star, while original filmmaker Harmony Korine has publicly disavowed the project. That creative vacuum plus the shift in stewardship reshapes both the franchise's tonal direction and the reputational stakes for Thorne's post-Disney career.
