In 2012, Harmony Korine’s pitch-black comedy Spring Breakers hit theaters. In May 2025, a long-rumored (and often questioned) sequel was confirmed with Matthew Bright (Freeway) attached to direct. Now, during an interview, the film’s star, Bella Thorne (Color Your Hurt), revealed that she will be taking over directing and writing.
Spring Breakers 2
On the Call Her Daddy podcast, she revealed that producers watched an early cut of her feature-length directorial debut Color Your Hurt. They asked her to write something for Spring Breakers 2, and “loved it!” After that, she was offered the director’s chair as well. There is no word on why Bright is no longer attached. With lags like this, it’s often due to issues with development or scheduling conflicts, but we’re not here to speculate on that.
Apparently Thorne begged her agent when she was a young teen to go see the premiere of the first film. She pointed out that 2012 was “such an exploitative time and everyone was going through it at that time. Like me and Miley [Cyrus] and Zendaya and Selena [Gomez] and everybody being comparative who was going to be that next bad girl and everything happening.”
Gomez starred in the first film alongside Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine. They play 4 college aged women who hold up a restaurant to fund their spring break vacation. Going on a bender of partying, drinking, and drugs, during which they get arrested. A drug and arms dealer named Alien (James Franco) bails them out, and things become more of a violent, neon-coated, fever dream.
Thorne’s Take
“This time, things are different,” Thorne says about her follow-up. “They are crazy. There’s a lot of craziness, there’s a lot of litness. There is so much litness in this movie.” When pressed about whether any original cast members will return, she went silent.
“I don’t want to get in trouble, but what I can say is it is so litty, litty McTitties,” Thorne adds with a laugh. “From start to finish, it’s lit as fuck. We are having fun. If you want to go to the theater and have fun, you’re going to have fun with this movie, that’s for sure.”
Harmony Korine’s Thoughts
Considering Rachel Korine is married to the director of the original film, we doubt Cotty will be back, since he has already poo-pooed the sequel.
“I have no interest in it,” Harmony Korine said about Spring Breakers 2. “The first movie exists, it already is what it is for me. The thought wouldn’t even enter my mind to be involved. I can’t imagine why you’d want to make another one because it already exists.” When asked if he would see it, he responded, “Nah.”
He also did not take the creators wanting to continue the story as a compliment. “Not really. It’s already its own thing; there’s no need for a sequel. But it’s not up to me,” he explained.
But Rachel is her own person, and maybe she feels the character has some unfinished business. Spring Breakers 2 will still star Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things), Ariel Martin (Zombies 2), and True Whitaker (I Love L.A.). There is no word on if Hudgens, Benson, or Gomez will reprise their roles. But how much does a film about debaucherous 20-something women really need returning characters either?
Which is also one of the biggest reasons why so many are asking why this needs to be Spring Breakers 2. Considering the first film wasn’t really set up for a sequel. We aren’t doubting Thorne’s abilities as a creator; we’re more asking why this project couldn’t tap into the current box-office trend of original IPs? Instead of trying to piggyback on a property where the creator clearly doesn’t want them.
At this time, Spring Breakers 2 has no set release window. We’ll keep you posted on updates about the project as it develops. You can watch Thorne’s full Call Her Daddy interview below:
