Slowly but surely, the wheels are beginning to ache into motion on Andrea Arnold’s first America-based motion picture, American Honey. First unveiled back in 2013, the coming-of-age drama has quietly subsided in development, but today brings word of the film’s first star, Shia LaBeouf, who has boarded the project in an unspecified role.
Orbiting around a young, wide-eyed teenager, the story follows his/her journey as a runaway selling magazine subscriptions to anyone and everyone, before falling into a loop of excessive partying, falling in love and breaking the law. From what we understand, Arnold also penned the screenplay for the intriguing film, and though the lead part was originally written for a female character, it’s unclear whether this will change following LaBeouf’s commitment to the project.
Set to make its way to Cannes Film Festival next month in the hope of attracting buyers, we’ll no doubt hear much more about the plot and the cast it attracts in due time, as Protagonist Pictures looks to spearhead production ahead of a debut in late 2015 or, in the more likely scenario, early 2016.
As the filmmaker behind Red Road and the critically-acclaimed, hard-hitting British drama Fish Tank, Arnold is certainly a name that attracts talent, and it’ll be interesting to how the cast is rounded out over the coming months. Last seen in David Ayer’s visceral World War II tank film Fury, LaBeouf has become something of an enigmatic presence of late, but there’s no doubting that the actor has the chops to deliver a good performance, given the right source material.
We’ll have much more on American Honey for you over the coming weeks and months. For now, you can share your thoughts on LaBeouf’s casting in the comments below.