Richard Linklater, the American indie cult director behind such hits as SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED, BEFORE SUNRISE and last year's ME AND ORSON WELLES, has announced that his next project will be the dark comedy BERNIE.

Jack Black, who starred in Linklater's audience pleaser SCHOOL OF ROCK, is onboard again for the film, which also co-stars cinema icon Shirley MacLaine. BERNIE is set in the small town of Carthage, Texas and follows a
Renaissance man-community leader-mortician who strikes up
an unlikely friendship with a wealthy but very particular widow. When he kills her, he goes to great lengths to maintain the
illusion that she is still alive.

The film is being produced by Mandalay Vision (one of the producers behind this summer's big indie hit THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT) and Castle Rock Entertainment. Principal photography is scheduled to begin October.

Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor