Bella Thorne has officially signed on to write, direct and star in Spring Breakers 2, marking a fresh continuation of the 2012 cult classic. The original film's producers, Chris and Roberta Hanley, have returned to back the project, which Thorne describes as a "wild, high-stakes thrill ride" that honours the original while charting its own course. The announcement confirms rumours Thorne first teased on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, and gives her a significant creative leap into feature directing.

The sequel will follow five girls whose spring break trip turns dangerous when they realise they were "never guests, just targets". Casting director Mary Vernieu, who worked on the original film and more recently Knives Out, will run an international casting call alongside Euphoria collaborator Jessica Kelly. Chris Hanley said Thorne's feature directorial debut, Color Your Hurt, convinced him and Roberta of her "fearless, disruptive" talent, and that her screenplay brings a distinct female perspective rather than a conventional sequel.