Matthew McConaughey has boarded the dark comedy Bernie, starring opposite Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine in the film that is directed by Richard Linklater.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rip Torn is also boarding the Mandalay Vision and Castle Rock Entertainment project.

Bernie is set in the small town of Carthage, Texas, and follows Renaissance man/community leader/mortician Bernie (Jack Black), who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a wealthy but very particular widow (Shirley MacLaine). When he kills her, he goes to great lengths to maintain the illusion that she is still alive.

Matthew McConaughey will play the town's district attorney, always angling for re-election and suspicious about the widow's death. Rip Torn will play Bernie's defense lawyer.

The movie films next month in Texas.