Matthew McConaughey is reuniting with True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto for a gripping new thriller from Skydance, inspired by the legendary Mike Hammer book series. The 55-year-old Academy Award winner is reportedly in talks to star as the iconic private investigator, a character whose gritty legacy helped shape cinematic tough guys like Dirty Harry, Jack Reacher, and James Bond.
Pizzolatto is set to write the screenplay, marking a highly anticipated collaboration that promises suspense, noir edge, and plenty of McConaughey charm.
Mike Hammer first appeared in the 1947 novel I, the Jury by author Mickey Spillane and has featured in a total of 22 novels, with Max Allan Collins taking over the franchise after the original writer passed away. 'Baby, It’s Murder' was described as the final book in the series and was released earlier this year.
Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger will produce, along with Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady, Benjamin Forkner of Pendleton, and Ken F. Levin also will produce.
Matthew starred with Woody Harrelson in the first season of True Detective in 2014, playing Detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, respectively. The show was set in Louisiana and followed the pair, who were summoned to discuss their memories of a 1995 murder investigation despite not having spoken to one another for years.
Nic recently suggested he could reunite with Matthew and Woody Harrelson because the pair were “open” to revisiting their True Detective characters for a new idea he had.
Speaking on Tim Green’s Nothing Left Unsaid podcast last month, he said: “I actually have another story for Cohle and Hart that, who knows, maybe we’ll do it one day.”
“But no, there is pressure, I don’t really feel or respond to pressure that way. I get pressure [from] myself, and beyond that, it doesn’t exist so much for me, and pressure tends to revolve more around, am I discharging my duty correctly for me?”
He insisted he wouldn’t share any details of his story idea. He explained, “If I said something on your show, there would be like five spec scripts going around Hollywood. No, I mean, it’s character-based again, that’s all, but it’s not something I’ve written or anything."
"It’s just, ‘Oh, I had that in my head,’ and we’ve talked about getting back together and doing it, and I think the guys are open to it. It’s just a question of whether that would ever happen or not.”