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 Val Price, Collette Wolfe (Young Adult) will play Firth’s assistant Glori Shettles, and that Justin Castor (Glee) is in talks to play Jason Baldwin.
Variety now piles on to the casting news with a report that Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) is in early talks to play Firth’s character’s “soon-t0-be-ex-wife,” with Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) also in preliminary talks to play “a teen who had some history with the three murdered boys.”
Still in need of casting? Damien Echols, perhaps the most well-known of the three.
The script for Devil’s Knot is based on Mara Leveritt’s 2003 book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” with a screenplay penned by Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman with a rewrite by Egoyan and Boardman.