Sony Pictures Classics has picked up, and will distribute the Peter Jackson produced WEST OF MEMPHIS. The documentary is directed by Amy Berg, and produced by Jackson, and his partner Fran Walsh.
WEST OF MEMPHIS premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film follows the story of the “West Memphis Three,” who were sent to prison after being falsely accused for the 1993 killings of three young boys in Arkansas. The story has been similarly chronicled in Joe Berlinger’s trilogy PARADISE LOST.
The three men featured in the documentaries have gained notoriety not only because of Berlinger’s films, but because of the overwhelming support for celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks), and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder,.
On August 18th, 2011 Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were released from prison after 19 years. The films and countless internet movements have chronicled why Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley were wrongly convicted, and have been instrumental towards finally freeing them.
JoBlo reviewed the film and Sundance, and Sony has not announced a release date at this time.