The Art Directors Guild awarded winners in 14 categories at the 27th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards February 18 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Hotel. The awards honored theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and animation features.
All five Academy Award nominees for Best Production Design — “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Babylon,” “Elvis,” and “The Fabelmans” — were also Adg Award nominees, with “Babylon” production designer Florencia Martin taking home the award for Period Feature Film.
Fantasy Feature Film went to “Everything Everywhere All at Once” production designer Jason Kisvarday and Contemporary Feature Film went to “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” production designer Rick Heinrichs, both of whom were not nominated by the Academy. The technical and artistic achievements of “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” continued its impressive guild run with production designers Guy Davis and Curt Enderle winning the Adg for Best Animated Feature film,...
All five Academy Award nominees for Best Production Design — “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Babylon,” “Elvis,” and “The Fabelmans” — were also Adg Award nominees, with “Babylon” production designer Florencia Martin taking home the award for Period Feature Film.
Fantasy Feature Film went to “Everything Everywhere All at Once” production designer Jason Kisvarday and Contemporary Feature Film went to “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” production designer Rick Heinrichs, both of whom were not nominated by the Academy. The technical and artistic achievements of “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” continued its impressive guild run with production designers Guy Davis and Curt Enderle winning the Adg for Best Animated Feature film,...
- 2/19/2023
- by Mark Peikert
- Indiewire
The 27th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards has announced its nominations in 14 categories, including theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and animation features.
Winners will be unveiled at the Adg Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel. The announcement was made today by Adg President Nelson Coates, Adg, and Awards Producer’s Michael Allen Glover, Adg and Megan Elizabeth Bell, Adg.
Returning as producer of this year’s Adg Awards is Art Director Michael Allen Glover, Adg. Joining the team as coproducer is Production Designer Megan Elizabeth Bell, Adg.
Adg Awards are open only to productions when made within the US by producers signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.
Nominees For Feature Film:
1. Period Feature Film
All Quiet on the Western Front
Production Designer: Christian M. Goldbeck...
Winners will be unveiled at the Adg Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel. The announcement was made today by Adg President Nelson Coates, Adg, and Awards Producer’s Michael Allen Glover, Adg and Megan Elizabeth Bell, Adg.
Returning as producer of this year’s Adg Awards is Art Director Michael Allen Glover, Adg. Joining the team as coproducer is Production Designer Megan Elizabeth Bell, Adg.
Adg Awards are open only to productions when made within the US by producers signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.
Nominees For Feature Film:
1. Period Feature Film
All Quiet on the Western Front
Production Designer: Christian M. Goldbeck...
- 1/9/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
“Elvis,” “Babylon,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Top Gun: Maverick” are among the films nominated by the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800).
The guild announced the nominations for its 27th Excellence in Production Design Awards in motion pictures, television, commercial and music video categories.
Winners will be named at the Adg Awards ceremony on Feb. 18 at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel.
The Adg divides live-action features into three categories. “All Quiet on the Western Front, “Babylon,” “Elvis, “The Fabelmans” and “White Noise” were nominated in the period feature film category.
“The Batman,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” earned recognition in the fantasy feature film category.
Rounding out the contemporary feature film nominations were “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, “Bullet Train,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.
The guild announced the nominations for its 27th Excellence in Production Design Awards in motion pictures, television, commercial and music video categories.
Winners will be named at the Adg Awards ceremony on Feb. 18 at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel.
The Adg divides live-action features into three categories. “All Quiet on the Western Front, “Babylon,” “Elvis, “The Fabelmans” and “White Noise” were nominated in the period feature film category.
“The Batman,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” earned recognition in the fantasy feature film category.
Rounding out the contemporary feature film nominations were “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, “Bullet Train,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.
- 1/9/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
The Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) announced the nominations for the 27th annual Adg Excellence in Production Design Awards.
Live-action features are divided into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary film. Nominees for a period film are All Quiet On The Western Front, Babylon, Elvis, The Fabelmans and White Noise. Fantasy film nominees are Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Nope. The contemporary film category nominees are Bardo, Bullet Train, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Tár and Top Gun: Maverick.
Over the past five years, the winner of the Adg’s period film prize has gone on to win the Oscar for production design three times: in 2018 for The Shape of Water, in 2020 for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and in 2021 for Mank. The production design Oscar went to the winner of the fantasy category in 2019, for Black Panther; and 2022 for Dune.
Live-action features are divided into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary film. Nominees for a period film are All Quiet On The Western Front, Babylon, Elvis, The Fabelmans and White Noise. Fantasy film nominees are Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Nope. The contemporary film category nominees are Bardo, Bullet Train, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Tár and Top Gun: Maverick.
Over the past five years, the winner of the Adg’s period film prize has gone on to win the Oscar for production design three times: in 2018 for The Shape of Water, in 2020 for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and in 2021 for Mank. The production design Oscar went to the winner of the fantasy category in 2019, for Black Panther; and 2022 for Dune.
- 1/9/2023
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When it came time to shoot “The Theater and Its Double” — the seventh episode of “Euphoria’s” second season, Emmy-nominated for cinematography — Hungarian Dp Marcell Rév already had some necessary experience.
Both episodes seven and eight of the HBO series’ follow the performance of Maude Apatow portrays Lexi, whose play is creatively shot in Season 2 of “Euphoria.” Lexi Howard’s (Maude Apatow) high school production of her original play, “Our Life,” based, very obviously, on the tribulations of her own friend group. The episode takes a creative approach to filming the play, hitting it from every possible angle and melding real life with the world of the performance.
Rév’s side gig in film school of shooting theatrical productions helped him prepare. This time around, he knew he wanted to take a brand-new approach, with custom film rolls (Kodak converted part of its factory to produce its Ektachrome stock in...
Both episodes seven and eight of the HBO series’ follow the performance of Maude Apatow portrays Lexi, whose play is creatively shot in Season 2 of “Euphoria.” Lexi Howard’s (Maude Apatow) high school production of her original play, “Our Life,” based, very obviously, on the tribulations of her own friend group. The episode takes a creative approach to filming the play, hitting it from every possible angle and melding real life with the world of the performance.
Rév’s side gig in film school of shooting theatrical productions helped him prepare. This time around, he knew he wanted to take a brand-new approach, with custom film rolls (Kodak converted part of its factory to produce its Ektachrome stock in...
- 8/8/2022
- by Sasha Urban
- Variety Film + TV
It's no secret that "Euphoria" is one wildly ambitious ride. Between Rue's (Zendaya) ridiculous police chase to prepubescent Ashtray (Javon Walton) having a bullet-riddled showdown with a Swat team, the lines between reality and fantasy often get blurred in the series. But Lexi's (Maude Apatow) true-life-inspired play, "Our Life" (based on the actor's high school play that she produced in real life), is the show's biggest creative effort yet. And in true "Euphoria" fashion, everything about the production is way over the top. The playwright prodigy had us scratching our heads during the final two episodes of season two with all of the play's elaborate scenery and costly props. So, of course, the big question: what in the world is Lexi's budget?!
We tapped a former high school theater director to get to the bottom of the mystery and some much-needed perspective. Timothy Cheeseman - a poet laureate and former...
We tapped a former high school theater director to get to the bottom of the mystery and some much-needed perspective. Timothy Cheeseman - a poet laureate and former...
- 2/28/2022
- by Njera Perkins
- Popsugar.com
Sunday night’s episode of “Euphoria,” in which Lexi’s school play sent shock waves through both the auditorium on screen and the series’ fan base at home, was filled with stunning moments and set pieces, but none was as shocking or gleefully entertaining as the musical number at the story’s climax. Set to the ‘80s pop staple “Holding Out for a Hero,” it’s a vigorously homoerotic extravaganza in which a fictionalized surrogate for the show’s deeply conflicted Nate romps among thrusting, grinding, and glistening men in skimpy attire.
Choreographer Ryan Heffington, who spoke to IndieWire following the episode’s premiere, remembered that the description of the scene in the original script was fairly brief. “There was a lot of massaging and body oil,” Heffington said with a laugh, adding that it was nevertheless “thrilling to read because it was clear that I’d finally get to...
Choreographer Ryan Heffington, who spoke to IndieWire following the episode’s premiere, remembered that the description of the scene in the original script was fairly brief. “There was a lot of massaging and body oil,” Heffington said with a laugh, adding that it was nevertheless “thrilling to read because it was clear that I’d finally get to...
- 2/23/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
The HBO series “Euphoria” has become a cultural phenomenon thanks to its talented and charismatic ensemble cast, controversial attitudes toward teen sex and drug use, and trend-setting approach to fashion and makeup. All of that tends to obscure the show’s ground-breaking visual style, but that style is every bit as instrumental to the show’s success as Zendaya’s Emmy-winning performance as Rue. In finding the precise cinematic language to express Rue’s struggles with addiction and the roiling interior tensions of Rue’s classmates and parents, creator Sam Levinson (who directed all the episodes in Season 2) has turned “Euphoria” into essential viewing for anyone interested in seeing how far television can push visual and aural grammar. From the insanely creative needle drops to intricately choreographed Steadicam shots that would make “Magnolia”-era Paul Thomas Anderson jealous, “Euphoria” is the place to find 2022’s boldest and most inspiring filmmaking.
- 2/21/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Atom Egoyan is all over the real-life case of American injustice surrounding the West Memphis Three. But sadly, I’m not sure why. I’m “biast” (pro): I’ve been following the real-life story depicted here for many years; love the cast and director
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Atom Egoyan, who is a pretty amazing filmmaker — his The Sweet Hereafter must be one of the saddest, wisest movies ever made — is all over the case of the West Memphis Three… and, sadly, I’m not sure why. The real-life story is already a notorious modern anti-classic of American injustice, thanks to an ongoing online campaign and four documentaries — Paradise Lost trilogy and the recent West of Memphis — devoted to the plight of the three men who, as teens, were convicted of the supposedly Satanic murders of three little...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Atom Egoyan, who is a pretty amazing filmmaker — his The Sweet Hereafter must be one of the saddest, wisest movies ever made — is all over the case of the West Memphis Three… and, sadly, I’m not sure why. The real-life story is already a notorious modern anti-classic of American injustice, thanks to an ongoing online campaign and four documentaries — Paradise Lost trilogy and the recent West of Memphis — devoted to the plight of the three men who, as teens, were convicted of the supposedly Satanic murders of three little...
- 5/9/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Director Atom Egoyan brought his new film, Devil’s Knot, to the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Telling the now almost legendary story of the West Memphis Three, the film serves as a dramatization of the events and boasts a star studded cast, with big Hollywood names like Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Dane DeHaan, Stephen Moyer and more all showing up in roles.
For those who are unaware, Devil’s Knot tells the story of the heinous murder of three young boys in Arkansas in 1993 and the subsequent trial and conviction of 17 year old Jessie Misskelley, 16 year old Jason Baldwin and 18 year old Damien Echols, aka the West Memphis Three.
A couple days ago I was lucky enough to catch up with Mr. Egoyan for a lengthy, 1 on 1 discussion about his new film. Though I didn’t love Devil’s Knot, I very much enjoyed speaking with Atom as...
For those who are unaware, Devil’s Knot tells the story of the heinous murder of three young boys in Arkansas in 1993 and the subsequent trial and conviction of 17 year old Jessie Misskelley, 16 year old Jason Baldwin and 18 year old Damien Echols, aka the West Memphis Three.
A couple days ago I was lucky enough to catch up with Mr. Egoyan for a lengthy, 1 on 1 discussion about his new film. Though I didn’t love Devil’s Knot, I very much enjoyed speaking with Atom as...
- 9/13/2013
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
We are now officially half way through the year and so I’ve asked our staff to vote for their favourite films released thus far. Hollywood blockbusters may have disappointed us, but thankfully we can always rely on independent filmmakers to create some truly inspiring films. Rounding out the special mentions is Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, and Cate Shortland’s Lore – all missing the cut by a couple of points.
****
#15: Iron Man 3 (24 points)
Directed by Shane Black
Written by Drew Pearce & Shane Black
USA, 2013
Fun has become a slightly forgotten commodity in the summer blockbuster, with many studios and filmmakers now inspired by the efforts of directors like Christopher Nolan to be as grim as possible. The modern superhero often has to be angst-ridden or otherwise mentally scarred to make an impact on audiences, so it’s a pleasant surprise...
****
#15: Iron Man 3 (24 points)
Directed by Shane Black
Written by Drew Pearce & Shane Black
USA, 2013
Fun has become a slightly forgotten commodity in the summer blockbuster, with many studios and filmmakers now inspired by the efforts of directors like Christopher Nolan to be as grim as possible. The modern superhero often has to be angst-ridden or otherwise mentally scarred to make an impact on audiences, so it’s a pleasant surprise...
- 7/1/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Is Et preserved under a New Mexico landfill? Firm wins right to search for unwanted Atari cartridges dumped 30 years ago
A New Mexico city has agreed to allow a Canadian multimedia company to search a landfill where old, terrible Atari games are rumoured to be buried.
Commissioners in Alamogordo have agreed that the company, Fuel Industries, can search the landfill for games, according to the Alamogordo Daily News.
Alamogordo has a population of 30,000 and lies 200 miles south of Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico.
One sought-after cartridge, the Et video game, is thought by some to be among the worst video games of all time.
Atari paid film director Steven Spielberg tens of millions of dollars to license the name of the wildly popular 1982 movie.
But the dud of a game caused the troubled company's worth to sink even further at the time. The game has since developed a cult following.
A New Mexico city has agreed to allow a Canadian multimedia company to search a landfill where old, terrible Atari games are rumoured to be buried.
Commissioners in Alamogordo have agreed that the company, Fuel Industries, can search the landfill for games, according to the Alamogordo Daily News.
Alamogordo has a population of 30,000 and lies 200 miles south of Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico.
One sought-after cartridge, the Et video game, is thought by some to be among the worst video games of all time.
Atari paid film director Steven Spielberg tens of millions of dollars to license the name of the wildly popular 1982 movie.
But the dud of a game caused the troubled company's worth to sink even further at the time. The game has since developed a cult following.
- 6/5/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
#68. Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot
Gist: What will certainly be served up by Egoyan as atmospherically cold, in 1993, in the small town and religious community of West Memphis, Arkansas, three eight-year-old boys – Stevie Branch (Jurgensmeyer), Christopher Byers (Spink), and Michael Moore (Boardman Jr.) – go missing from their neighborhood. After an extensive search, their bound and beaten bodies are found the next day. The community and the police department are convinced that the murders are the work of a satanic cult due to the violent and sexual natures of the crime. A month later, three teenagers – Damien Echols (Hamrick), Jason Baldwin (Meriwether), and Jessie Misskelley Jr. (Higgins) – are arrested after Misskelley confesses after several hours of interrogation. They are taken to trial where Baldwin and Misskelley are sentenced to life and Echols to death all while still claiming they’re innocent.
Prediction: Completed quite a while back, all signs point...
Gist: What will certainly be served up by Egoyan as atmospherically cold, in 1993, in the small town and religious community of West Memphis, Arkansas, three eight-year-old boys – Stevie Branch (Jurgensmeyer), Christopher Byers (Spink), and Michael Moore (Boardman Jr.) – go missing from their neighborhood. After an extensive search, their bound and beaten bodies are found the next day. The community and the police department are convinced that the murders are the work of a satanic cult due to the violent and sexual natures of the crime. A month later, three teenagers – Damien Echols (Hamrick), Jason Baldwin (Meriwether), and Jessie Misskelley Jr. (Higgins) – are arrested after Misskelley confesses after several hours of interrogation. They are taken to trial where Baldwin and Misskelley are sentenced to life and Echols to death all while still claiming they’re innocent.
Prediction: Completed quite a while back, all signs point...
- 4/3/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Devils’ Knot
Director: Atom Egoyan
Writer(s): Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson
Producer(s): Boardman, Elizabeth Fowler, Clark Peterson, Richard Saperstein, Christopher Woodrow
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Dane DeHaan, Kevin Durand, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Stephen Moyer, Mireille Enos, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Ryan
Do we really need another feature based on the West Memphis Three. The short answer is: Yes. Does Atom Egoyan need a career relaunch? The answer is once again yes. His last great film was 1997′s The Sweet Hereafter.
Gist: Penned by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson and based on Mara Leveritt’s Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, Reese Witherspoon stars as Pam Hobbs, the intrepid mother of murder victim Stevie Hobbs, and Colin Firth plays private investigator Ron Lax, whose tireless efforts uncovered troubling details about the case ultimately led...
Director: Atom Egoyan
Writer(s): Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson
Producer(s): Boardman, Elizabeth Fowler, Clark Peterson, Richard Saperstein, Christopher Woodrow
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Dane DeHaan, Kevin Durand, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Stephen Moyer, Mireille Enos, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Ryan
Do we really need another feature based on the West Memphis Three. The short answer is: Yes. Does Atom Egoyan need a career relaunch? The answer is once again yes. His last great film was 1997′s The Sweet Hereafter.
Gist: Penned by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson and based on Mara Leveritt’s Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, Reese Witherspoon stars as Pam Hobbs, the intrepid mother of murder victim Stevie Hobbs, and Colin Firth plays private investigator Ron Lax, whose tireless efforts uncovered troubling details about the case ultimately led...
- 1/14/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Sitting across from Damien Echols is a strange experience. Not because I believe he is guilty of the crimes committed back in 1993, where he was convicted of murdering three young boys along with two of his friends, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin. It is clear to me that they are very innocent and that the real killer has yet to be charged. What was strange on my part was to think of the suffering that he went through every single day for all those years, yet not having one iota of an...
- 12/26/2012
- by JimmyO
- JoBlo.com
Over the years, there's been a lot of talk about whether a documentary can truly make a difference. We've seen plenty of examples of pivotal docs like Davis Guggenheim and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth successfully raising awareness about global warning and the other side of the coin, something like Marina Zenovich's Romance Polanski: Wanted and Desired reopening an old case and getting its subject back into trouble. Much of that concept of documentary filmmaking being able to make a difference can be traced back to the "Paradise Lost" movies made by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofksy during the '90s, which followed the case of three Arkansas youths: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who were tried and convicted of murdering three boys in a...
- 12/21/2012
- Comingsoon.net
West of Memphis, a powerful new Peter Jackson documentary, charts the ongoing fight for justice for three men wrongly convicted as child killers
After his release from prison, Damien Echols found the simplest things hardest. "For 18 years I hadn't walked without chains," he says, "so when I came out I would trip over my feet. It took time just to stop falling over the kerb." He is calling from New York, but still speaks with the accent of the American south – the place where until last year he spent his whole life, half of it jailed as a child killer.
The facts are a tangle of names and dates. On 6 May 1993, the naked, mutilated bodies of three eight-year-old boys – Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers – were found in a water-filled ditch in the Bible belt town of West Memphis, Arkansas. By the following March, three local teenagers had been convicted of the crimes – Echols,...
After his release from prison, Damien Echols found the simplest things hardest. "For 18 years I hadn't walked without chains," he says, "so when I came out I would trip over my feet. It took time just to stop falling over the kerb." He is calling from New York, but still speaks with the accent of the American south – the place where until last year he spent his whole life, half of it jailed as a child killer.
The facts are a tangle of names and dates. On 6 May 1993, the naked, mutilated bodies of three eight-year-old boys – Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers – were found in a water-filled ditch in the Bible belt town of West Memphis, Arkansas. By the following March, three local teenagers had been convicted of the crimes – Echols,...
- 12/21/2012
- by Danny Leigh
- The Guardian - Film News
In 1993, three teenagers were accused of murdering three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. and Jason Baldwin, who became known as the West Memphis Three, were put on trial for gruesome crimes that included hogtying, dismembering and violating the eight-year-old cub scouts. The trial became a national sensation, and prosecutors painted the three teens -- allegedly led by Echols, who was 18 at the time -- as Satan-worshipping delinquents whose past brushes with misdemeanors and a culturally rigid Bible belt town made them obvious suspects. Their trial was dominated by science that would
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- 12/17/2012
- by Jordan Zakarin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The American Film Institute (AFI) today announced its red carpet Centerpiece Galas and Special Screenings . comprised of award season contenders and the year.s most highly anticipated works from film masters, moving image icons and breakthrough talents . for AFI Fest 2012 presented by Audi. This year.s line up includes feature films of iconic figures such as President Abraham Lincoln, prolific filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac, as well as non-fiction and inspired-by stories about the Central Park Five and West of Memphis teenagers, Southeast Asia tsunami survivors and much more.
As previously announced, the World Premiere of Hitchcock (Dir Sacha Gervasi) is the Opening Night Gala and the World Premiere of Lincoln (Dir Steven Spielberg) is the Closing Night Gala.
The Centerpiece Galas are Life Of Pi in 3D (Dir Ang Lee); On The Road (Dir Walter Salles);Rise Of The Guardians in 3D (Dir Peter Ramsey...
As previously announced, the World Premiere of Hitchcock (Dir Sacha Gervasi) is the Opening Night Gala and the World Premiere of Lincoln (Dir Steven Spielberg) is the Closing Night Gala.
The Centerpiece Galas are Life Of Pi in 3D (Dir Ang Lee); On The Road (Dir Walter Salles);Rise Of The Guardians in 3D (Dir Peter Ramsey...
- 10/11/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The West Memphis Three are now free. It's been a year since DNA evidence led to the release of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who had each served 18 years for the 1993 murders of three 8-year-old boys. Echols talks to E! News about the book he wrote about his time on Death Row and the support he got from the likes of Johnny Depp and other celebrities. Now 37, Echols—who was a teenager when he was convicted and sentenced to death for his alleged role in the killings—said that he wrote most of Life After Death while on death row and finished up the remainder once he was out of jail. Natalie Maines and Eddie Vedder on hand to witness release of "West Memphis...
- 9/27/2012
- E! Online
Johnny Depp waved to fans, looking calm and casual as he made his way down the red carpet last week at the Toronto International Film Festival. It could have been just another premiere - another work obligation, another red carpet - for the actor, except he wasn't promoting himself or even a movie he worked on. By his side: someone who is not a celebrity, but has been thrust into the spotlight nonetheless. In the same week People printed a first-look at his new memoir, Life After Death, Damien Echols, one third of the so-called West Memphis Three, stood beside...
- 9/12/2012
- by Johnny Dodd and Alison Schwartz
- PEOPLE.com
Toronto - Damien Echols, one-third of the West Memphis Three, on Saturday paid tribute to pals Johnny Depp and Peter Jackson for campaigning to get him off Death Row so he could painfully navigate new-found freedom. “If it wasn’t for Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh and Johnny (Depp), really we would have nowhere to go and nothing to do when I got out. We left Arkansas like refugees, just running,” Echols said as he recalled being freed in August 2011 after being wrongfully convicted and jailed along with Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley for being torturers and killers
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- 9/8/2012
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting.
After four documentaries (three of which were produced by HBO, the other by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh), the story of the West Memphis Three gets the narrative treatment courtesy of director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter). Devil’s Knot focuses on three young men, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. who were wrongfully accused of murdering three children as part of a satanic ritual. Appearing in the lead roles are newcomer James Hamrick (a Wesleyan drama student) as Echols, Seth Meriwether (Trouble with the Curve) as Baldwin and Kristopher Higgins (In Time) as Misskelley. The film also stars Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Colin Firth (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Mireille Enos (AMC’s The Killing), and Alessandro Nivola (Howl). Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) wrote...
After four documentaries (three of which were produced by HBO, the other by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh), the story of the West Memphis Three gets the narrative treatment courtesy of director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter). Devil’s Knot focuses on three young men, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. who were wrongfully accused of murdering three children as part of a satanic ritual. Appearing in the lead roles are newcomer James Hamrick (a Wesleyan drama student) as Echols, Seth Meriwether (Trouble with the Curve) as Baldwin and Kristopher Higgins (In Time) as Misskelley. The film also stars Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Colin Firth (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Mireille Enos (AMC’s The Killing), and Alessandro Nivola (Howl). Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) wrote...
- 8/13/2012
- by Byron Camacho
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Almost any post-lead actors to join Shawn Levy‘s The Internship have been of the smaller sort — it’s a sign of, well, something when Max Minghella is your most noticeable addition — though an exception has arrived, since EW reports Rose Byrne is on the verge of joining Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson‘s new comedy. The general details on her character are a little basic, with our descriptor being “a high-ranking executive who starts a relationship with Wilson’s character.” But the part’s in good hands — should her work in Bridesmaids have signaled anything.
The Vaughn-penned comedy follows two friends who, though having acquired work at an up-and-coming website’s office, must compete with fellow interns over precious working positions. Fairly generic and “easy,” really, but a reunion of the two Wedding Crashers stars should make for a moderately fun comedy outing; Josh Brener, Tiya Sircar, Tobit Raphael,...
The Vaughn-penned comedy follows two friends who, though having acquired work at an up-and-coming website’s office, must compete with fellow interns over precious working positions. Fairly generic and “easy,” really, but a reunion of the two Wedding Crashers stars should make for a moderately fun comedy outing; Josh Brener, Tiya Sircar, Tobit Raphael,...
- 6/29/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Rex Linn has joined the cast of Devil’s Knot. Linn will play Chief Inspector Gary Gitchell in the Atom Egoyen-directed feature about the wrongfully convicted and wrongly imprisoned West Memphis 3. He joins Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon Alessandro Nivola and more in the film. The real-life Gitchell, who left the Memphis police force a few months after the three teens’ convictions in an Arkansas triple homicide, was the lead investigator in the 1993 case. Linn played Detective Frank Tripp on CSI: Miami, which CBS cancelled last month after 10 seasons. Linn also appears in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Django Unchained. Elizabeth Fowler, Clark Peterson, Richard Saperstein and Christopher Woodrow are producing Devil’s Knot. Molly Conners, Sarah Johnson Redlich, Maria Cestone and Hoyt David Morgan are executive producers alongside WM3 defendants Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin. Rex Linn is repped by Roar.
- 6/27/2012
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
Casting updates for Atom Egoyan’s West Memphis Three film “The Devil’s Knot,” the next DiCaprio-Scorsese collaboration and the follow-up to John Carney’s “Once” below, so read on...
Leonardo DiCaprio gets a second wife (after getting his first yesterday) in the Martin Scorsese-directed “The Wolf Of Wall Street.” Deadline reports that “Pan Am” star Margot Robbie is in talks to play the female lead in the film that also includes Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler and “The Artist” star Jean Dujardin. “The Wolf Of Wall Street” tells the true story of Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), a wheeling and dealing New York stockbroker who sees his career and personal life fall into shambles thanks to sex, drugs and alcohol. Production on the Terence Winter-penned film begins at the end of the summer.
Tony-award winner James Corden, last seen on the big screen in the Quentin Tarantino favorite “The Three Musketeers,...
Leonardo DiCaprio gets a second wife (after getting his first yesterday) in the Martin Scorsese-directed “The Wolf Of Wall Street.” Deadline reports that “Pan Am” star Margot Robbie is in talks to play the female lead in the film that also includes Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler and “The Artist” star Jean Dujardin. “The Wolf Of Wall Street” tells the true story of Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), a wheeling and dealing New York stockbroker who sees his career and personal life fall into shambles thanks to sex, drugs and alcohol. Production on the Terence Winter-penned film begins at the end of the summer.
Tony-award winner James Corden, last seen on the big screen in the Quentin Tarantino favorite “The Three Musketeers,...
- 6/19/2012
- by Cain Rodriguez
- The Playlist
And we’re back on the Devil’s Knot casting beat (and, yes, we’re pretty beat by it). Atom Egoyan‘s upcoming film documenting the tragedy of the West Memphis 3 has so far collected a cast of various talents and notoriety levels, including Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, Collette Wolfe, Kris Polaha, Kristopher Higgins, along with still-in-negotiations actors Amy Ryan and Dane DeHaan, but now the filmmaker is mining some truly undiscovered country. Variety reports that Seth Meriwether has been tapped for the role of West Memphis 3 defendant Jason Baldwin (the outlet notes that earlier reports that Justin Castor was set for the role were “premature,” as the actor had not yet received an official offer at the time of it hitting the wire). Don’t know Meriwether’s name? Well, you wouldn’t – the kid is a seventeen-year-old high school senior from Montgomery, Alabama. Just how the heck did Meriwether land such a plum...
- 6/19/2012
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Even in its recent casting spurt, the role of Damien Echols has been a specter hanging over Devil’s Knot. The most well-known, outspoken, and controversial member of the West Memphis 3 is not only bound to play a major role in the Atom Egoyan film, but also, as a result, needs to be played just right for much of the drama to work. So, who would play him?
Unless you go to Wesleyan University or, at the very least, attend their shows, it’ no one you’ve ever heard of. ShowBlitz has learned that one of their drama students, James Hamrick, impressed Egoyan so much with an audition that he’s officially won the role over “dozens” of established young actors. With this, the film’s West Memphis 3 have been locked in; Kristopher Higgins will play Jessie Misskelley, and Justin Castor is set to appear as Jason Baldwin.
Devil’s...
Unless you go to Wesleyan University or, at the very least, attend their shows, it’ no one you’ve ever heard of. ShowBlitz has learned that one of their drama students, James Hamrick, impressed Egoyan so much with an audition that he’s officially won the role over “dozens” of established young actors. With this, the film’s West Memphis 3 have been locked in; Kristopher Higgins will play Jessie Misskelley, and Justin Castor is set to appear as Jason Baldwin.
Devil’s...
- 6/14/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
We hoped when Bill Murray appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" earlier in the week that he might have something important to say about "Ghostbusters 3," but the funnyman didn't throw us much of a bone about the possible horror-comedy. When host Dave asked about the film, which mastermind Dan Aykroyd has been trying to get off the ground for some time now, Murray had this to say:
"That's about all they want to know at Cannes, too... But, um... They just don't have a really good script. It's hard. Even the second 'Ghostbusters' wasn't as much fun for me as the first one. It's hard to make a sequel. That first one was really funny. It was just so darn funny, it's hard for me... I always drag my feet on it, but you know, we'll try again."
Please don't tell us this is stuck in development hell forever,...
"That's about all they want to know at Cannes, too... But, um... They just don't have a really good script. It's hard. Even the second 'Ghostbusters' wasn't as much fun for me as the first one. It's hard to make a sequel. That first one was really funny. It was just so darn funny, it's hard for me... I always drag my feet on it, but you know, we'll try again."
Please don't tell us this is stuck in development hell forever,...
- 6/14/2012
- by Alison Nastasi
- MTV Movies Blog
In which we return to our well-worn beat of covering casting news on Atom Egoyan‘s Devil’s Knot, which will chronicle the real life tragedy and drama of the West Memphis 3. The film has already cast Reese Witherspoon as the mother of one of the murdered boys, Alessandro Nivola as her husband (and a possible suspect), Colin Firth as private investigator Ron Lax, and Mireille Enos as a major witness. Casting on the film has now ramped up so considerably that we’ll just tease you with some names and provide a full rundown of their involvement and possible roles after the break. Amy Ryan. Collette Wolfe. Dane DeHaan. Read on! Deadline Toronto reports that Kristopher Higgins is in talks to play the role of Jessie Misskelley Jr. He’s best known for his work on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Deadline also reports that Kris Polaha (Ringer) is set to play public defender...
- 6/14/2012
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
With Atom Egoyan at the helm, Devil’s Knot is setting up to shoot in Georgia within the next couple of weeks. The ranks of the cast have swelled considerably over the last month or so, with Amy Ryan and Chronicle’s Dane DeHaan now in early talks to join them.The film follows the true story of the West Memphis Three – Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley Jr and Damien Echols – who were found guilty of murdering three young boys. But private detective Ron Lax (to be played in the movie by Colin Firth) was among several people who found problems with the case, and in particular dug up DNA evidence linking Terry Hobbs (Alessandro Nivola) to material used to tie up one of the victims. The three defendants were released last year, though they still had to plead guilty.Ryan is trying to clear space to play Lax’s wife,...
- 6/13/2012
- EmpireOnline
Since this is only coming a day after the last announcement, one could get the impression that Devil’s Knot is, after months of pre-production and relative quiet, finally shaping up for a production start. Deadline reports that Kristoffer Polaha (Mad Men, Ringer), Collette Wolfe (Young Adult, Observe and Report), and Justin Castor (Glee) are either in talks to or have already joined Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Mireille Enos, Kristopher Higgins, Alessandro Nivola, all of whom are working under director Atom Egoyan.
In his West Memphis 3-centered drama, Polaha will be seen as Val Price, a public defender that the three boys felt hurt their own chances; Wolfe is playing Glori Shettles, the assistant to Ron Lax, a public investigator played by Firth; and Castor is negotiating to appear as one of the three suspects, Jason Baldwin. (This makes the most public and controversial member of the group, Damien Echols,...
In his West Memphis 3-centered drama, Polaha will be seen as Val Price, a public defender that the three boys felt hurt their own chances; Wolfe is playing Glori Shettles, the assistant to Ron Lax, a public investigator played by Firth; and Castor is negotiating to appear as one of the three suspects, Jason Baldwin. (This makes the most public and controversial member of the group, Damien Echols,...
- 6/13/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
More possible casting news is coming in for the latest film documenting both the tragedy and the mystery surrounding the newly freed West Memphis Three, Devil's Knot, and we've got the latest on who may be headed into the woods.
Deadline reports that Kristopher Higgins (pictured; The Secret Life of the American Teenager) is in talks to join the cast of Devil’s Knot to play Jessie Misskelley, Jr. If signed, he'll join the already announced Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, and Reese Witherspoon in the drama about the West Memphis 3 that Atom Egoyan is directing.
Enos will play Vicki Hutcheson, the mother of an 8-year-old boy who lives in a run-down house in West Memphis. She becomes an important witness in the murder trial of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., for the killing of three 8-year-old boys found hog-tied in a drainage ditch. Hutcheson, it becomes apparent to investigators,...
Deadline reports that Kristopher Higgins (pictured; The Secret Life of the American Teenager) is in talks to join the cast of Devil’s Knot to play Jessie Misskelley, Jr. If signed, he'll join the already announced Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, and Reese Witherspoon in the drama about the West Memphis 3 that Atom Egoyan is directing.
Enos will play Vicki Hutcheson, the mother of an 8-year-old boy who lives in a run-down house in West Memphis. She becomes an important witness in the murder trial of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., for the killing of three 8-year-old boys found hog-tied in a drainage ditch. Hutcheson, it becomes apparent to investigators,...
- 6/8/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Atom Egoyan‘s upcoming drama based on the real-life tragedy of the West Memphis 3, Devil’s Knot, has been quite slowly accumulating cast members, with news on each new member of the production trickling out over the course of many months. Reese Witherspoon joined the cast in December as Pam Hobbs, the mother of victim Stevie Branch, and Colin Firth signed on in February to play Ron Lax, a private eye who offered his services to the WM3 before their trial in 1993. While the project itself was announced all the way back in August, with such delicate material to cover, perhaps Egoyan is taking his time in picking his cast (what an idea!). Devil’s Knot has now added its third major cast member, and it is indeed a delicate role that is being filled – Deadline Seattle reports that The Killing star Mireille Enos will play Vicki Hutcheson in the film. Those...
- 5/31/2012
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Atom Egoyan is deep in pre-production for based-on-truth drama Devil’s Knot. He's slowly gathering cast members for a summer shoot and has just aded The Killing’s Mireille Enos to the lineup. Egoyan is working from a script written by The Exorcism Of Emily Rose team of Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman. The plot follows the real-life story of the West Memphis Three: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, who were sent to prison despite a lack of evidence for the murder of three eight-year-old boys. The script itself was adapted from Mara Leveritt’s 2003 book Devil’s Knot: The True Story Of The West Memphis Three.Colin Firth is starring as Ron Lax, a private investigator who became the trio’s first champion in 1993 when they were headed to trial. He offered his services for free at a time when the weight of public opinion was firmly against them.
- 5/30/2012
- EmpireOnline
Well, we gave up on the second season of "The Killing" after being jerked around way too much by a plot that refuses to do anything, but the stars of the show don't have to worry about their Hollywood prospects. Joel Kinnaman has already popped up in a couple of movies and stars in the summer's indie rom-com "Lola Versus" and is slated to be the next "RoboCop." Meanwhile, Mirielle Enos has already bagged roles in "World War Z" with Brad Pitt and "Gangster Squad" with Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone and a zillion other people, and now she's joining another film with an equally impressive roster.
Deadline reports Enos has come on board Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan's West Memphris Three drama "The Devil's Knot." Based on the book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” the feature film will take a...
Deadline reports Enos has come on board Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan's West Memphris Three drama "The Devil's Knot." Based on the book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” the feature film will take a...
- 5/30/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Exclusive: The Killing star Mireille Enos has joined Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth in Devil’s Knot, the Atom Egoyan-directed drama about the West Memphis 3. Enos will play Vicki Hutcheson, the mother of an 8-year-old boy who lives in a run-down house in West Memphis. She becomes an important witness in the murder trial of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley for the killing of three 8-year-old boys found hog-tied in a drainage ditch. Hutcheson, it becomes apparent to investigators, could be the only link between Echols and Misskelley. As Deadline revealed just after the West Memphis 3 murder defendants were released from prison last summer, 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...
- 5/30/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
"The Devil's Knot," a drama starring Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth and dealing with the three teenagers falsely convicted of satanic murders in the case that became known as the West Memphis 3, has won financial backing from Worldview Entertainment. Worldview announced its backing of the project at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. Also read: 'West Memphis Three' Killers Freed After 18 Years Atom Egoyan (“The Sweet Hereafter”) will direct, and two of the three former teenagers, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin – who were released from prison last summer...
- 5/17/2012
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
Atom Egoyan's West Memphis Three project “Devil’s Knot” will be financed and produced by Worldview Entertainment. Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth star in the film, which begins shooting next month in Georgia. Elizabeth Fowler, Clark Peterson, Richard Saperstein and Worldview CEO Christopher Woodrow are producing. Worldview’s Molly Conners, Sarah Johnson Redlich, Maria Cestone and Hoyt David Morgan are executive producers along with West Memphis Three defendants Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin. “Worldview is excited to be involved with such an important and relevant project,” said Woodrow. “We believe this story needs to be told on screen and we couldn’t ask for a higher caliber of talent to do so.” Based on Mara Leveritt’s 2002 book, “Devil’s Knot” was adapted by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson. The Weinstein Company is handling international sales on the project in...
- 5/17/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- Indiewire
"The Artist" enjoys post-Oscar bump at the box office: "In North America, the black-and-white silent film moved into the top 10 chart for the first time since opening in select theaters 15 weeks ago, grossing $3.9 million for a domestic cume of $37.1 million. The pic was up 34 percent from the previous weekend. The Weinstein Co. planned all along to hold back from going wide until after the Academy Awards. Over the weekend, the film aggressively upped its theater count from 966 locations to 1,756. 'This is within the range of what we expected. This film is a slow burn,' Weinstein Co. president of distribution Erik Lomis said." Hollywood Reporter Freed West Memphis 3 prisoner Jason Baldwin will executive produce "Devil's Knot": "'Devil's Knot' tells the story of Ron Lax, a successful private detective who worked for the defense for no pay. He found DNA evidence linking the stepfather of one of the murdered boys to materia.
- 3/5/2012
- Gold Derby
To vote for Best Documentary Feature, academy members must see all five nominees in a theatrical setting. The only exceptions are for those Documentary branch members who took part in the nominating process. "Paradise Lost 3" is the third film from directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky that documents the wrongful imprisonment of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley who were convicted of murdering three boys in 1993. This series of films helped bring about their release last August. To document the life and work of choreographer Pina Bausch, director Wim Wenders made the 3D film "Pina." While there is some footage of dancers discussing her work, it is dominated by performances of these dances. In 1998, "Dancemaker," a profile of choreographer Paul Taylor, won this award. "Pina" was shortlisted for the foreign language Oscar but did not make the final five. Make Your Oscar Pre...
- 2/23/2012
- Gold Derby
Johnny Depp is to produce a new movie about West Memphis Three member Damon Echols, who was released from prison last year after serving 18 years on Death Row for his alleged part in the murder of three Arkansas boy scouts.
Depp and his producing partner Christi Dembrowski have optioned the film rights to Echols' unpublished memoirs, according to Deadline.com.
Their film will chronicle Echols' life and his time behind bars for a crime he insists he didn't commit. He was 18 at the time of his arrest.
Following the West Memphis Three's release from prison, Depp urged U.S. authorities to continue searching for the real killers of the Arkansas boy scouts - so Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.'s names could be cleared.
The three men were set free in August after reluctantly admitting guilt. They later revealed they had only done this as part of an agreement that would lead to their release.
During an interview with Larry King on CNN Presents, Depp said, "Admitting guilt (while) maintaining innocence, it's a really floppy piece of ground to stand on. I knew immediately when I first started to familiarise myself with the case, I knew instantly that they were innocent, that they were wrongfully accused. The more research I did, the more people I spoke to, it was absolutely apparent...
"It was ugly and a raw deal from the get-go back in '93... When you're thinking of these three kids, one, Damien Echols, on Death Row for 18 years, spent 10 years in isolation, for a crime that he did not commit.
"What I'm hoping is that the investigation will continue outside of the courthouse right now and that we will be able to prove the real killers."
Depp isn't the only celebrity fighting for justice for the West Memphis Three - rocker Eddie Vedder and Dixie Chicks star Natalie Maines have been close to the case for years and moviemaker Peter Jackson has been quietly funding a private investigation into the murders.
Depp and his producing partner Christi Dembrowski have optioned the film rights to Echols' unpublished memoirs, according to Deadline.com.
Their film will chronicle Echols' life and his time behind bars for a crime he insists he didn't commit. He was 18 at the time of his arrest.
Following the West Memphis Three's release from prison, Depp urged U.S. authorities to continue searching for the real killers of the Arkansas boy scouts - so Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.'s names could be cleared.
The three men were set free in August after reluctantly admitting guilt. They later revealed they had only done this as part of an agreement that would lead to their release.
During an interview with Larry King on CNN Presents, Depp said, "Admitting guilt (while) maintaining innocence, it's a really floppy piece of ground to stand on. I knew immediately when I first started to familiarise myself with the case, I knew instantly that they were innocent, that they were wrongfully accused. The more research I did, the more people I spoke to, it was absolutely apparent...
"It was ugly and a raw deal from the get-go back in '93... When you're thinking of these three kids, one, Damien Echols, on Death Row for 18 years, spent 10 years in isolation, for a crime that he did not commit.
"What I'm hoping is that the investigation will continue outside of the courthouse right now and that we will be able to prove the real killers."
Depp isn't the only celebrity fighting for justice for the West Memphis Three - rocker Eddie Vedder and Dixie Chicks star Natalie Maines have been close to the case for years and moviemaker Peter Jackson has been quietly funding a private investigation into the murders.
- 2/8/2012
- WENN
A year ago, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. and Jason Baldwin were still in prison, serving the 18th year of their highly publicized sentence for the alleged murders of three young boys. Today, six months after they filed the Alford Plea that gave them their freedom, they are a veritable cottage industry as the subjects of multiple features, documentaries and a memoir stemming from their story. Although the investigation as to who's really responsible for the murders continues, the vocabulary for discussing the West Memphis Three has shifted from phrases like “DNA evidence” and “miscarriage of justice” to “distribution rights” and “Oscar.” Here's a look at the current WM3-related projects and where they stand. The “Paradise Lost” Trilogy (Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky) Status: Completed. The films that started everything, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's “Paradise...
- 2/8/2012
- Indiewire
As of right now there are four documentaries about the West Memphis 3 and a movie in development called The Devil's Knott. Now Johnny Depp, who's been a huge supporter or the WM3, and his production company Infinitum Nihil has optioned the rights to Damien Echols upcoming memoir, "which reveals his experiences on death row after his wrongful conviction and subsequent wrongful 18-year imprisonment for the 1993 murder of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas." The book is set to be released in September of 2012.
For those of you not familiar with the story, back in 1993, Damien Echols, 36, Jason Baldwin, 34, and Jessie Misskelley, 36 were wrongly convicted for the May 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Arkansas. At the time it was believed that the boys were killed as part of a satanic ritual. Last year, they were released from prison with the help of several supporters including Depp and Peter Jackson,...
- 2/8/2012
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Exclusive: Johnny Depp and his producing partner Christi Dembrowski and their Infinitum Nihil production shingle have yet another interesting project in development. They’ve optioned film rights to the soon-to-be-published and as-yet-untitled book by Damien Echols which reveals his experiences on death row after his wrongful conviction and subsequent wrongful 18-year imprisonment for the 1993 murder of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. The memoir will be published in September 2012 by Blue Rider Press, an imprint of Penguin Books. The injustice of the West Memphis Three story drew badly needed support from the entertainment communit’s Peter Jackson, Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines, Henry Rollins, and of course Depp. The actor and his producing partner have long been wanting and waiting to explore this story and will develop the narrative as a feature film with Echols and his wife Lorri Davis who will be executive producers. Their collective take is to...
- 2/7/2012
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline Hollywood
Our sincere thanks to Andy Jurgensen for his review of Amy Berg's documentary and comparison to the documentary trilogy by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. In 1994, Damian Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were tried and convicted in a West Memphis court of the murder of Steven Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore. The trial was a sensational one, with prosecutors claiming that Echols was a Satan worshiper and with the help of Misskelley and Baldwin, tortured and killed the young boys in a ritualistic rage. Only teenagers, Misskelley and Baldwin received life sentences and Echols was given the death penalty. In the subsequent 18 years since their lockup, there has been a growing support around the three men, with many doubting the...
- 2/4/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Colin Firth is joining Reese Witherspoon in Atom Egoyan's drama based on the real-life case of the West Memphis Three, "Devil's Knot."
Deadline has the news, and reports that the story centers on Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. who were convicted of the murder of three 8-year-old boys. The case was sensationalized with reports of devil worship and ritualized sacrifice, despite lack of physical evidence. Witherspoon will play a mother of one of the murdered boys, while Firth will take on the role of the heroic investigator who helped the Memphis Three when no one else would, uncovering important evidence for their defense.
Peter Jackson talks West Memphis Three doc!
While truth is usually scarier than fiction, we have some frightening fictional features in this week's Horror Bites that should please. Hit the jump for more of this week's news.
Cubicles Are Terrifying and "Not Safe...
Deadline has the news, and reports that the story centers on Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. who were convicted of the murder of three 8-year-old boys. The case was sensationalized with reports of devil worship and ritualized sacrifice, despite lack of physical evidence. Witherspoon will play a mother of one of the murdered boys, while Firth will take on the role of the heroic investigator who helped the Memphis Three when no one else would, uncovering important evidence for their defense.
Peter Jackson talks West Memphis Three doc!
While truth is usually scarier than fiction, we have some frightening fictional features in this week's Horror Bites that should please. Hit the jump for more of this week's news.
Cubicles Are Terrifying and "Not Safe...
- 2/3/2012
- by Alison Nastasi
- MTV Movies Blog
Oscar-winner Colin Firth has been cast opposite Reese Witherspoon in "Devil's Knot", the forthcoming West Memphis Three film that's being directed by Atom Egoyan ("Chloe", "The Sweet Hereafter"). The British actor will play Ron Lax, a private investigator who lent his services on behalf of defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley during their original trials. Though he ultimately uncovered many details that pointed to the innocence of the trio, who came to be known as the West Memphis Three, his efforts weren't enough to keep them from being convicted of murder and sentenced to either life in prison (Baldwin...
- 2/2/2012
- by HitFix Staff
- Hitfix
Colin Firth has been cast alongside Reese Witherspoon in the Atom Egoyan-directed film Devil's Knot, which is based on the true story surrounding the West Memphis 3. This movie is bringing together some solidly great talent, and I have no doubt that this is going to turn out to be a powerful film.
Back in 1993, Damien Echols, 36, Jason Baldwin, 34, and Jessie Misskelley, 36 were wrongly convicted for the May 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Ark. After 18 years they were finally released from prison. The screenplay for the film was written by Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), and the film is gearing up to start shooting in the summer. The script is based on investigative reporter Mara Leveritt's 2003 book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.
According to Deadline, Firth will play Ron Lax, "a private investigator who was...
Back in 1993, Damien Echols, 36, Jason Baldwin, 34, and Jessie Misskelley, 36 were wrongly convicted for the May 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Ark. After 18 years they were finally released from prison. The screenplay for the film was written by Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), and the film is gearing up to start shooting in the summer. The script is based on investigative reporter Mara Leveritt's 2003 book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.
According to Deadline, Firth will play Ron Lax, "a private investigator who was...
- 2/2/2012
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Another actor has joined the latest film to explore the tragic occurrences surrounding the West Memphis Three child murders, and we've got the latest for you right here.
According to Deadline, Colin Firth has joined Reese Witherspoon in Devil’s Knot, the Atom Egoyan-directed drama about the West Memphis Three. Just after the West Memphis Three murder defendants were released from prison August 19th, 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 defendants 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...
According to Deadline, Colin Firth has joined Reese Witherspoon in Devil’s Knot, the Atom Egoyan-directed drama about the West Memphis Three. Just after the West Memphis Three murder defendants were released from prison August 19th, 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 defendants 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...
- 2/2/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
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