Jack Black. Richard Linklater. When those two met, it was murder! All right, who let Hart to Hart’s Max into the opening paragraph? It wasn’t murder – it was School of Rock. The last time Black and the man behind Slacker worked together, the result was a surprisingly fun edu-rock-com. Now they’re back with Bernie, a comedy promises to be a little darker.
The movie is set in small town Texas, where a local hero is the titular community leader/mortician (Black), who somehow stumbles into an odd friendship with an exacting and wealthy widow (Shirley MacLaine). Tragedy strikes when he accidentally kills her, and then comedy strikes again when he desperately tries to convince everyone that she’s still kicking.
While it definitely sounds stranger than the easy-to-sell Rock, Bernie certainly seems like something that Black and Linklater could work with. And with MacLaine acting opposite Black? Colour us intrigued. Plus, could that name be a subtle wink back to Weekend at Bernie's, what with the corpse-panic link?
Castle Rock Entertainment is providing the finance and Linklater is scheduled to start shooting the thing this October.