Matthew McConaughey’s ‘Amziah King’ and Green Day Comedy ‘Nimrods’ Lead Indie Cinema Weekend
The specialty box office is welcoming a busy collection of new releases this weekend, led by Matthew McConaughey’s rural crime thriller The Rivals of Amziah King and the Green Day-inspired road-trip comedy Nimrods.
The lineup stretches from music-driven comedy and crime drama to independent documentaries, anime and politically charged historical stories, giving moviegoers a particularly varied selection outside Hollywood’s biggest mainstream releases.
McConaughey Takes Centre Stage in ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’
Black Bear is launching The Rivals of Amziah King in more than 500 theatres, bringing McConaughey back to cinemas in a role that combines music, family drama and an increasingly dangerous criminal conflict.
Directed by Andrew Patterson, whose previous feature was The Vast of Night, the film is set in rural Oklahoma and centres on Amziah King, a charismatic musician who runs a successful honey-producing operation while leading an unconventional group of bluegrass performers.
Amziah’s relatively settled existence begins to change when his estranged foster daughter unexpectedly returns. Seeing an opportunity to repair their relationship, he attempts to bring her into the family business.
However, the world surrounding his honey operation proves far more competitive and dangerous than expected. Rivalries intensify and threaten both the business Amziah has built and the renewed family connection he hopes to establish.
The supporting cast includes Angelina LookingGlass, Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, Jake Horowitz, Scott Shepherd, Rob Morgan and Tony Revolori.
Music is also a major component of the production, with bluegrass performances woven throughout the story. The soundtrack features work produced by T Bone Burnett, while McConaughey himself contributes to the musical side of the movie.
One of the film’s songs, “Quill,” performed by McConaughey alongside Ben Hardesty, Miranda Zickler, Angelina LookingGlass and Andrea Pister, was released as part of the soundtrack on August 7.
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The film previously generated significant attention following its world premiere at SXSW, where it received an enthusiastic reception.
‘Nimrods’ Turns Green Day History Into a Wild Road Trip
Another major specialty release arriving this weekend is Nimrods, an R-rated comedy inspired by the music and early touring experiences of Green Day.
Inaugural Entertainment and Live Nation Studios are launching the film across more than 1,000 screens.
Directed by Lee Kirk, the movie stars Mason Thames and Mckenna Grace, alongside Kylr Coffman, Ryan Foust, Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, Keen Ruffalo, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Fred Armisen, Bobby Lee and Sean Gunn.
The story follows Tommy, played by Thames, after he receives what appears to be the opportunity of a lifetime: an invitation for his band to open for Green Day on New Year’s Eve.
There is one major problem — the invitation is actually an elaborate prank orchestrated by his older brother.
Determined to believe the opportunity is genuine, Tommy takes his brother’s car and sets off with his bandmates on an ambitious journey from Kansas City to Los Angeles, convinced they can reach their destination within three days.
The resulting cross-country adventure draws inspiration from Green Day’s early years travelling between performances in a van before the band’s breakthrough album Dookie transformed them into international rock stars.
Green Day Plays an Active Role
The connection to Green Day goes considerably beyond inspiration.
Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong collaborated with Kirk on the movie and appears alongside bandmates Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool.
Armstrong’s son, Jakob Armstrong, also contributed by writing music for Analog Dogs, the fictional band featured in the story.
The movie previously premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been marketed toward multiple generations of Green Day listeners.
The strategy combines nostalgia among Gen X and millennial fans with younger audiences drawn to stars such as Thames and Grace.
Its promotional campaign has leaned heavily into the band’s history and pop-punk identity. Selected fans, cast members and media received limited-edition VHS tapes containing the trailer before its wider online release.
The production also made a major appearance around San Diego Comic-Con, including a Green Day performance at Petco Park.
The Nimrods soundtrack, released July 31, contains 22 Green Day songs, several previously unreleased live recordings, new material and contributions from artists and performers connected with the film.
Kristen Stewart Leads ‘The Wrong Girls’
Kristen Stewart is also returning to specialty cinemas with Neon’s The Wrong Girls, opening on approximately 510 screens.
The stoner comedy marks the feature directing debut of Dylan Meyer and pairs Stewart with Alia Shawkat.
The cast also includes LaKeith Stanfield, Tony Hale and Zack Fox, with appearances from Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Kate McKinnon and Geena Davis.
Stewart and Shawkat play two financially struggling, deeply codependent best friends whose chaotic routine is disrupted when a case of mistaken identity throws them into an increasingly complicated situation.
Neon financed and produced the movie while also overseeing its U.S. distribution and international sales.
The film was shot in Los Angeles following the city’s devastating wildfires. According to the distributor, its 29-day production employed around 100 people per day, with approximately 90% of the workforce drawn locally.
It also marks another collaboration between Neon and Stewart following Spencer, which earned the actor an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
‘Your Name’ Returns for Its 10th Anniversary
Anime audiences are also getting a significant theatrical rerelease this weekend as GKIDS brings Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name back to roughly 650 screens across the United States and Canada.
The rerelease celebrates the acclaimed film’s 10th anniversary.
Originally released in the United States by Funimation in 2017, Your Name became an international phenomenon and earned more than $358 million worldwide.
The fantasy romance follows Mitsuha, a teenager living in rural Japan, and Taki, a boy from Tokyo, who inexplicably begin waking up in each other’s bodies.
As the strangers learn to navigate one another’s lives, their unusual connection becomes increasingly profound before circumstances push them toward discovering the deeper reason they have been brought together.
GKIDS acquired the film earlier this year and now represents much of Shinkai’s earlier catalogue.
‘The Bend in the River’ Completes a Story Spanning Decades
Documentary filmmaker Robb Moss is meanwhile completing an extraordinary multi-decade project with The Bend in the River, opening at New York’s Film Forum.
Executive produced by Frances McDormand and Joel Coen, the documentary continues a story Moss began recording nearly five decades ago.
His journey started with five friends — Barry, Danny, Cathy, Jeff and Jim — during a 1978 rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.
That experience eventually resulted in the 1982 short documentary Riverdogs. Moss later revisited the group as they approached middle age in the 2003 film The Same River Twice.
The Bend in the River returns to the friends as they enter their seventies, examining ageing, relationships, personal choices and how their generation views the lives they have built.
‘American Doctor’ Follows Physicians From Gaza to Washington
Watermelon Pictures is debuting the documentary American Doctor at New York’s Angelika.
Directed by Poh Si Teng, the nonfiction film follows three American doctors from Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds who are connected by their professional commitment to saving lives.
The documentary focuses on Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, following their experiences from medical work connected with Gaza to advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C.
The film subsequently plans to expand to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Toronto.
The distributor is also allocating a free screening in each market for healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, emergency medical workers, physician assistants and medical students.
‘The Brink of War’ Revisits the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit
Angel Studios is taking The Brink of War into wide release across more than 2,000 screens.
Directed by Michael Russell Gunn, the political drama stars Jeff Daniels as Ronald Reagan and Jared Harris as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, with Guy Burnet and Aya Cash also appearing.
Set during the historic 1986 Reykjavik Summit, the movie dramatizes negotiations between the American and Soviet leaders as they confront the possibility of reducing their countries’ enormous nuclear arsenals.
The story frames the negotiations as a race against time in which a breakthrough could dramatically alter the nuclear arms race while failure could carry enormous international consequences.
Will Poulter and Noah Centineo Star in ‘Union County’
Oscilloscope Laboratories is introducing Union County on 10 screens.
The feature directing debut of Adam Meeks stars Will Poulter and Noah Centineo as brothers Cody and Jack Parsons.
Set in rural Ohio against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic, the film follows the brothers as they participate in a court-mandated drug rehabilitation program.
Supported by a dedicated counsellor, the pair attempt to rebuild their lives and pursue a more stable future after years shaped by addiction.
The film previously premiered at Sundance.
‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Heads Back to Cinemas
Classic horror will also have a place on the theatrical calendar, with Dark Sky Films and Fathom Entertainment preparing a special Texas Chain Saw Day event on Tuesday, August 18.
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More than 1,000 theatres in the United States and around 50 locations in Canada are expected to screen Tobe Hooper’s landmark 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for one night.
A specially produced audio presentation will play before the movie, while selected locations will host post-screening discussions involving people connected with the original production.
The event arrives as work continues on a hand-animated rotoscoped version of the horror classic, currently planned for release in 2027.
A Diverse Weekend for Independent Cinema
Together, this weekend’s releases demonstrate the unusually broad range of films currently competing in the specialty market.
McConaughey’s The Rivals of Amziah King offers a distinctive mixture of crime, bluegrass music and family drama, while Nimrods turns Green Day’s punk-rock legacy into a cross-country comedy aimed at both longtime fans and younger audiences.
Meanwhile, The Wrong Girls, Your Name, American Doctor, Union County, The Brink of War and The Bend in the River give audiences options ranging from irreverent comedy and anime romance to addiction drama, political history and nonfiction filmmaking.
With major stars, established music franchises, festival favourites and anniversary screenings all reaching theatres at once, the weekend is shaping up as a particularly active one for moviegoers looking beyond the biggest studio blockbusters.
