Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch to Star in Film Version of Tracy Letts' Killer Joe

Tracy Letts’ hilarious and violent trailer-trash epic Killer Joe is headed for the big-screen with Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch heading the cast, according to Deadline.com. William Friedkin, who directed the feature film adaptation of Letts’ Bug, will re-team with the playwright/screenwriter. Filming is set to begin on November 8 in New Orleans. No other casting has been announced.

Killer Joe introduced Letts (winner of the 2008 Tony and Pulitzer Prize for August: Osage County) to New York audiences. The 1998 off-Broadway production of the play, with Scott Glenn in the title role of a detective hired as a contract killer, ran for 283 performances at the Soho Playhouse. In addition to Glenn, the cast included Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Amanda Plummer and Marc Nelson.