Movies
Peter Jackson Investigates Infamous West Memphis Three Case
I just recently decided to delve into Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, which has since turned into a trilogy of films about the “West Memphis Three”. It appeared to have everything you could possibly need to translate into a film, but apparently it wasn’t enough.
Peter Jackson and his Wingnut Films have announced completion of helmer-scribe Amy Berg‘s West of Memphis, a docu about the West Memphis Three, who were jailed for murder and recently freed, reports Variety.
What’s interesting is that Damien Echols, one of the three, produced the film with his wife Lorri Davis. 8 years in the making, Jackson and Fran Walsh helped reinvigorate the case in 2005 when they funded a new probe into the conviction of Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelly Jr., who were teenagers at the time of the murders of three 8-year-old boys and spent 18 years in prison.
A statement from Jackson said the film reveals unknown forensic evidence surrounding the arrest and conviction of the three defendants. The new evidence prompted the Arkansas Supreme Court to overturn previous denials of appeals and allowed for a new evidentiary hearing to proceed.“This film represents the trial these men didn’t have. With the support of Damien and Lorri, along with unprecedented access to those closest to the case, we were able to make a film that shows the inner workings of the defense — the investigation, research, and appeals process, in a way that has never been shown before,” said Berg.
The state of Arkansas struck an unusual plea deal with the Three, freeing them but requiring them to plead guilty, despite their assertion of innocence. The film examines how the State Prosecutor’s declaration that the case is closed leaves the men convicted of a crime they did not commit while the murder goes unsolved.
Jackson said he hoped further investigation would lead to finding the killer and exonerating the three defendants.
Music for the film was written by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Exec producer Ken Kamins will conduct discussions with potential distributors. The West Memphis Three have also been covered in three “Paradise Lost” docus by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. The New York Times reported Sunday that there has been jostling for access to sources between the Jackson’s camp, the “Paradise Lost” filmmakers and others making films about the case.
Movies
Christopher Landon to Helm Feature Adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s ‘The Final Girl Support Group’
A new feature adaptation of author Grady Hendrix‘s slasher book The Final Girl Support Group is now on the way from Paramount Pictures, and Deadline reports that it’s found its director in Christopher Landon (Drop, Happy Death Day).
The two previously collaborated on My Best Friend’s Exorcism.
In The Final Girl Support Group, “Lynette is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.”
“But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.”
I wrote in my novel review for BD, “Hendrix puts his characters through the absolute wringer. It’s a bloody, vicious voyage for the flawed heroine, both physically and emotionally. In terms of action and horror, Support Group delivers breakneck pacing and thrills.”
Five years ago, Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti (Mama, It, It Chapter Two) were attached to produce a planned series adaptation for HBO Max alongside Charlize Theron. While Theron is no longer producing, the Muschiettis remain on board under their Double Dream label.
Paramount Pictures is also developing Hendrix’s sci-fi novella, BadAsstronauts.
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