The Devil’s Knot is gathering together an interesting cast, with Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, Alessandro Nivola, Collette Wolfe, Kris Polaha and Justin Castor already attached to the film. Now Variety reports that Oscar-nominee Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) and Chronicle’s Dane DeHaan have entered talks for the movie.
Egoyan is working from a script written by The Exorcism Of Emily Rose’s Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman, about the West Memphis 3, who were convicted of the murder of three young boys in Arkansas in the mid 90s. Even before they were convicted there were accusations of the investigation being bungled and the men being railroaded.
The youths were accused of murdering the boys in a Satanic ritual, with many suspecting they had just been caught up in a panic over Satanism that was sweeping the US (and other parts of the world) at the time, with the evidence made to fit what the prosecutors wanted it to, rather than what it did.
After years of campaigning, high-profile documentaries (particularly Paradise Lost and its sequel, which had a huge impact on the case), the three men were finally released – although it should be noted that it was part of a plea deal and they weren’t exonerated.
Ryan is set to play the wife of Firth’s character, with Colin as a private investigator who worked tirelessly to try and uncover the truth. Dehaan will be a teen who has some history with the three murdered boys. Shooting begins on June 25th.
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