‘Devil’s Knot’ - West Memphis 3 Drama Lands Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon (This Means War) has never been afraid to take on a challenging role, and this subject matter will certainly test het mettle.  According to THR, Witherspoon is the first official cast member of Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot.  Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) will work from Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman’s (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) screenplay adaptation of Mara Leveritt’s novel -"Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three." 

The book follows the trials of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who were convicted for the 1993 brutal killings of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas.  

For many of us it was the work of a pair of filmmakers, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, which brought the story into our collective psyche.  They first chronicled the story and first trial in the documentary, Paradise Lost, then believing the three men innocent, they made a sequel, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations.  It seemed to be on the strength of their storytelling that helped create the media firestorm that saw the men released from prison after 18 long years.

Witherspoon is set to play Pam Hobbs, the mother of one of the victims.  While Hobbs originally believed these three teens were responsible for her son’s death, she later thought otherwise after more evidence came to light.  From her most famous role as the blond-haired Elle Woods (Legally Blonde) to the Oscar-winning performance as June Carter (Walk the Line); Witherspoon has shown that she ranks right up there with some of Hollywood’s best.