Story follows a north London woman (Kidman) who wakes up every morning remembering nothing. Her husband tells her she suffered a trauma, and that she dare not leave home. She sneaks off to a doctor (Strong) who gives her a small digital recorder and urges her to play back her thoughts day after day in hopes of re-integrating her mind. She does and it works, and that’s when she comes to realize that the man sleeping next to her isn’t her husband.
‘Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three’ centers on an infamous Arkansas murder case that ended with the conviction of three teens based largely on their alleged fascination with the occult. Three children were savagely murdered in 1993. Weeks later, police announced the arrest of three teens accused of committing the murders as part of a satanic cult ritual. Among the evidence presented against the suspects to show their dark states of mind were posters of the rock band Metallica and books by Anne Rice and Stephen King.
Billed as a horror mystery story, the screenplay revolves around two American girls and their British father who move to Italy after their mother dies.
Devil’s Knott‘s Colin Firth, pictured, is confirmed to star with Nicole Kidman in Rowan Joffe’s thriller Before I Go to Sleep for Scott Free and Millennium Films, Variety reports.
Firth will play Kidman’s husband in the film, which also stars Mark Strong and Anne-Marie Duff.
“Story follows a north London woman (Kidman) who wakes up every morning remembering nothing. Her husband tells her she suffered a trauma, and that she dare not leave home. She sneaks off to a doctor (Strong) who gives her a small digital recorder and urges her to play back her thoughts day after day in hopes of re-integrating her mind. She does and it works, and that’s when she comes to realize that the man sleeping next to her isn’t her husband.”
Based on the debut novel by British scribe S.J. Watson, “Before I Go to Sleep” was scripted and will be helmed by Joffe. It is set to lense at London’s Twickenham Studios, and at various locations in and around London, at the end of February.
Dimension Films has shared the following promotion poster and imagery from Devil’s Knot at this past week’s American Film Market.
Directed by Atom Egoyan, and starring Stephen Moyer, Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, Kristopher Higgins, Seth Meriwether, James Hamrick, Alessandro Nivola, Collette Wolfe, Kris Polaha, Amy Ryan, Dane DeHaan and Matt Letscher, Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three “Centers on an infamous Arkansas murder case that ended with the conviction of three teens based largely on their alleged fascination with the occult. Three children were savagely murdered in 1993. Weeks later, police announced the arrest of three teens accused of committing the murders as part of a satanic cult ritual. Among the evidence presented against the suspects to show their dark states of mind were posters of the rock band Metallica and books by Anne Rice and Stephen King.” READ MORE
Sweet Hereafter director Atom Egoyan’s West Memphis Three drama Devil’s Knot just keeps casting. The most recent addition is Matt Letscher (pictured inside; Identity, “Scandal”) who will play defense attorney to Jason Baldwin, one of the WM3.
Per Deadline, “ Matt Letscher has joined Devil’s Knot. The actor will play defense attorney Paul Ford in the Atom Egoyan-directed film about the West Memphis 3. Letscher is scheduled to start filming on ‘Devil’s Knot’ early next month.”
The pic is based on investigative reporter Mara Leveritt’s 2002 book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” which chronicled the prolonged murder trial of defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who served 18 years in prison before being released in August. The trio were accused of killing Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, three 8-year-old boys who were found brutally murdered and hog-tied in a wooded area of West Memphis, Arkansas known as Robin Hood Hills.
The film stars Reese Witherspoon (Freeway, Legally Blonde) as Pam Hobbs, the mother of one of the victims. Hobbs originally believed that Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley murdered her son, but as the case dragged on and more details became available, she came to believe that the trio did not commit the heinous crime. Colin Firth (A Single Man) will also star. Recent additions to the cast include Kristopher Higgins, Collette Wolfe, Justin Castor, Kris Polaha and Seth Meriwether.
Mark Sevi wrote the original draft of the screenplay, with the current draft penned by Scott Derrickson (whose Sinister has some really great scares) and Paul Boardman. READ MORE
Sweet Hereafter director Atom Egoyan’s West Memphis Three drama Devil’s Knot is about to start shooting and has made a few new additions to its cast. Collette Wolfe (pictured above; Young Adult), Kris Polaha (“The Ringer”) and Justin Çastor (“Glee”) have joined the cast.
Per Deadline, “Kris Polaha will be playing public defender Val Price in the movie about the conviction of the West Memphis 3. Collette Wolfe has joined the film as Firth’s character’s assistant Glori Shettles. Justin Castor is talks to play James Baldwin, one of the WM3.”
The pic is based on investigative reporter Mara Leveritt’s 2002 book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” which chronicled the prolonged murder trial of defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who served 18 years in prison before being released in August. The trio were accused of killing Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, three 8-year-old boys who were found brutally murdered and hog-tied in a wooded area of West Memphis, Arkansas known as Robin Hood Hills.
They join recent addition Kristopher Higgins. The film stars Reese Witherspoon (Freeway, Legally Blonde) as Pam Hobbs, the mother of one of the victims. Hobbs originally believed that Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley murdered her son, but as the case dragged on and more details became available, she came to believe that the trio did not commit the heinous crime. Colin Firth (A Single Man) will also star.
Mark Sevi wrote the original draft of the screenplay, with the current draft penned by Scott Derrickson (whose Sinister has some really great scares) and Paul Boardman.
Sweet Hereafter director Atom Egoyan’s West Memphis Three drama Devil’s Knot has been percolating for a while but is now all set to start shooting. A greenlight was given to the pic in anticipation of its rights being sold at Cannes.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, “New York-based motion picture production and investment company Worldview Entertainment will finance and produce the project, which The Weinstein Co. is debuting to foreign buyers at the Marche du Film this week in Cannes. CAA is handling domestic rights.”
The pic is based on investigative reporter Mara Leveritt’s 2002 book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” which chronicled the prolonged murder trial of defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who served 18 years in prison before being released in August. The trio were accused of killing Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, three 8-year-old boys who were found brutally murdered and hog-tied in a wooded area of West Memphis, Arkansas known as Robin Hood Hills.
The film stars Reese Witherspoon (Freeway, Legally Blonde) as Pam Hobbs, the mother of one of the victims. Hobbs originally believed that Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley murdered her son, but as the case dragged on and more details became available, she came to believe that the trio did not commit the heinous crime. Colin Firth (A Single Man) will also star.
Mark Sevi wrote the original draft of the screenplay, with the current draft penned by Scott Derrickson (whose Sinister has some really great scares) and Paul Boardman.
Colin Firth has joined Reese Witherspoon in Devil’s Knot, the Atom Egoyan-directed drama about the West Memphis 3, reports Deadline. The Sweet Hereafter and Chloe director Egoyan came aboard to direct a script that was originally written by Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman, the team behind The Exorcism Of Emily Rose.
Firth will play Ron Lax, a private investigator who was the first pro bono supporter of the defendents as they headed to trial in 1993. Lax built one of the most prominent private investigative firms in the Southeast, and offered his services for free to the defendants, who at the time were reviled because of the heinous nature of the crime and the sensationalized reports about devil worship and ritualistic sacrifice. All of that was later proven to be unfounded, after Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted despite not a shred of physical evidence. Lax was an unsung hero and helped find the DNA in the knots that bound one of the victims, that cast suspicion on Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steven Branch, one of the 8-year old murdered boys.
Witherspoon will play Pam Hobbs, the mother of Branch. She initially believed the trio murdered her son, is eventually persuaded that the three suspects are innocent and wrongly accused. Filming begins next summer in Louisiana, and other big names are expected to join the cast in smaller roles.
Egoyan has been working hard with Boardman on a rewrite. The script is based on investigative reporter Mara Leveritt’s 2003 book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” an in-depth chronicle of the sensationalized trials that sent the three to prison for the murder of the three 8-year old boys who were found hog-tied in a drainage ditch. READ MORE
Back in November we reported that Colin Firth was in talks for the villain role in Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake.
Color me disappointed, it looks like that will longer happen. Here’s hoping they can find a similarly inspired choice for the role.
Per Twitch, “Firth confirm[ed] the offer in subsequent interviews while playing coy about his intended response but had he taken the role on it would have seen him playing Josh Brolin’s tormentor in the story of a man kidnapped and imprisoned for years without explanation. Well, they’re going to need to find another kidnapper. Twitch has learned that Firth has now officially passed on the project meaning they need to find someone else to play opposite Brolin in what is being planned as an early 2012 shoot.”
It’s worth noting that when we spoke with producer Roy Lee last month he insisted that this new take would be “different and darker” than the original.
Whom do you Oldboy fans feel should play the villain? READ MORE
Last week while Bloody Disgusting was on the Los Angeles set of Takashi Shimizu’s new film, 7500, we had a chance to speak with Roy Lee about that film as well as a few upcoming projects. While I can’t say too much about 7500 right now, Mr. Lee was able to clue us in on a progress report in regard to Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake.
Things are gearing up fast, “We are planning to shoot ‘Oldboy’ in March, and we should start preproduction in late January”.
On if they had retained anything from the draft by Better Luck Tomorrow writers Ernesto Foronda, Fabian Marquez and Justin Lin, “No. This is completely separate. A brand new script by Mark Protosevich.”
As far as the new approach? “It is very similar but we’ve added new elements. Mark Protosevich has come up with new elements that will throw off the audience that have seen the original movie. There are new characters and new situations that present themselves in a way that change the story but then eventually get it going in the same direction… The ending will be something that fans of the original will e very happy with, in fact some may consider it to be a bit darker.”
On that famous hallway scene, “There’s a different interpretation of that scene that will hopefully be Spike’s signature moment in the movie. He wants to show it in a way that he’s never seen an action movie do it before.”
7500 lands in theaters on August 31, 2012. Expect more updates, and our full set report, as that date approaches. READ MORE
This could actually be pretty amazing. It seems that Colin Firth has a shot at a really meaty role as the villain in Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake!
Per Twitch, “Twitch has learned that an offer is out to Firth for the part of Adrian, which means that – should he accept – he will be stepping into the villain role opposite Josh Brolin”
It’s worth noting that Twitch was the first to report that Brolin was in talks so this could be legit. There was also mention of Rooney Mara joining the pic a few months back though that has yet to be confirmed.
Oldboy fans – what do you think? Is Firth up to the task? READ MORE
Ha! And I thought I could finally sit down to watch some basketball…
The LA Times is reporting that hot with Oscar buzz, Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman look to new roles in Stoker.
Firth, the British actor receiving major Oscar buzz for his portrayal of King George VI in The King’s Speech, is negotiating to join the family mystery-drama that South Korean filmmaker Chan Wook-Park (Oldboy, Thirst) is making as his first English-language movie.
Nicole Kidman, herself gaining award-season buzz for her turn as a grieving mother in Rabbit Hole, is also negotiating to come aboard in a lead part.
Penned by actor Wentworth Miller, Stoker tells of a girl and her mother who are visited by a mysterious uncle after the girl’s father dies. Kidman would play the mother and Firth the uncle. The Fox Searchlight film, which is being produced by Ridley Scott’s production company and will star Mia Wasikowska as the girl, India Stoker, is set to start shooting in late spring.
READ MORE
Based on the book The Picture of Dorian Gray, when Dorian Gray, a wealthy but naïve and irresistible young man, has his portrait pointed, he rashly wishes that he could remain as beautiful, youthful, and alluring as the handsome face in the portrait. Little does he know that his wish will come true. When encouraged by the decadent Lord Henry Wotton into a life of depravity and self-indulgence, Gray is stunned to discover that while the face in the painting is aging grotesquely, he is not! In fact, he remains as beautiful as ever. Nothing ages him… but Gray’s wanton lifestyle will eventually catch up with him, and the consequences of his reckless behavior will come to haunt him.
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