Selena Gomez to Star in Harmony Korine Film ‘Spring Breakers’

Shedding a good-girl image has been difficult for various Disney stars. Some do it intentionally, such as Miley Cyrus in song “Can’t Be Tamed,” while others unintentionally distance themselves from it, like Vanessa Hudgens post-leaked nude pictures. Selena Gomez is the latest Disney kid to attempt this feat, but rather than release a risqué single, she is scheduled to star in a Harmony Korine film titled Spring Breakers.

Korine was behind 1990s film Kids, and Spring Breakers appears to be in the same vein, albeit with a grownup and professional cast. Gomez is playing a college girl who robs a restaurant to fund a spring break excursion, only to land in jail. She and friends are then bailed by a drug dealer with ulterior motives. James Franco, Emma Roberts, and Vanessa Hudgens are co-starring, and filming is set to start in 2012. The movie is expected to hit theaters in 2013. About the project, Gomez told MTV: "It's a different character than I have ever played before. It's a different kind of vibe I think than people are used to seeing me in. What you're going to see is more raw, I think. It's going to be raw and more about acting."

While known on screen for television show Wizards of Waverly Place and teen comedy Monte Carlo, Gomez had a good year, musically, in 2011, with album When The Sun Goes Down, multiple singles and videos, and successful tour We Own The Night – in addition to dating Justin Bieber. About the past year, the “Love You Like a Love Song” singer told MTV: "I feel like this approach of this year, I wasn't expecting any of the things that happened. And so I just kind of want to go into the end of this year and the beginning of next year just excited and in a good place and not planning anything."