Colin Firth Reteams With Atom Egoyan For His West Memphis 3 Film ‘Devil’s Knot’ Starring Reese Witherspoon

News

by Kevin Jagernauth
February 1, 2012 3:45 PM
2 Comments

With Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's "Paradise Lost" trilogy, the Peter Jackson-produced "West of Memphis" and a plethora of books and other material about the West Memphis Three, you might think the subject was all done. Far from it. Last year "The Devil's Knot" started heading into production from Canadian director Atom Egoyan ("Exotica," "Chloe," "The Sweet Hereafter") with Reese Witherspoon to star. Now another Academy Award winner is coming on board.

Colin Firth, who previously teamed with Egoyan on "Where the Truth Lies," has joined the film. 'Devil's Knot' will take a different tack than the documentaries, getting out of the courtroom and taking a look at how the murder impacted the lives of those in the community. Witherspoon will play Pam Hobbs, one of the mothers of the victims who eventually becomes convinced that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. have been wrongly convicted. As for Firth, he takes the role of Ron Lax, a private investigator who worked pro bono on behalf of the West Memphis Three who found the DNA strand that began to suggest Terry Hobbs might have been involved in the crime.

The film is based on the book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three” and has been in development since 2006, with a script from "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" writers Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman (which has subsequently been rewritten by Egoyan and Boardman), and the production has landed the life rights to many people involved in the case.

"The Devil's Knot" is gearing up to shoot this summer, and apparently, these aren't the only big names that will on board with lots of smaller roles still to be cast. [Deadline]

News

More: Colin Firth, The Devil's Knot

2 Comments

| Reply
TMOX | February 2, 2012 12:24 PMReply

The first comment from one of the loony Nons (as in, those who adamantly refuse to believe the WM3 are anything but guilty) in 3,2,1...
Mike | February 1, 2012 5:47 PMReply

I'm happy that the case of the West Memphis Three has been reaching a larger audience over the past year or so. The fact that they were charged, let alone convicted, was a major travesty for justice. I'm glad that they're out of prison and free, but hope that the investigation re-opens so they can turn around and sue the shit out of the state of Arkansas.

Also, it sounds like it could be a good movie. It's good to see Reese Witherspoon taking on something dramatic, rather than the not-very-funny shtick she's been sticking to in recent years. Colin Firth is definitely going to add to the great acting of the entire thing, and I hope they find other big names to become involved which further publicizes the story.