Colin Firth is joining Reese Witherspoon on the Atom Egoyan-directed film Devil’s Knot, a drama about the West Memphis 3, according to Deadline.com.
Firth will play Ron Lax, a private investigator who worked with the trio in 1993.
Reese Witherspoon will play Pam Hobbs, the mother of one of the boys who Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of killing.
Other big Hollywood celebrities are believed to be preparing to sign with the project, which will begin filming in Louisiana next year.
The script, written by Paul Boardman, is based around Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, a book released by investigative journalist Mara Leveritt in 2003.
The casting news comes shortly after the Sundance Festival premiere of Peter Jackson produced West of Memphis, the latest documentary on the case.
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