While the parents of one of the West Memphis 3’s alleged victims continue their campaign to have the Academy exclude Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory from Oscar consideration, their supporters may soon have an even bigger film to fight than another sequel from Bruce Sinokfsy and Joe Berlinger—or even the forthcoming, Peter Jackson-produced documentary, West Of Memphis. Namely, Atom Egoyan’s upcoming dramatized account, Devil’s Knot, which just got a dose of now-your-sister-who-doesn’t-really-read-these-sorts-of-things-wants-to-see-it starpower with the casting of Reese Witherspoon. According to Variety, Witherspoon will play the role of Pam Hobbs, mother to one of the children whom Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr., were convicted of murdering, serving 18 years in prison before being recently released. Hobbs is one of the parents who was at first convinced of the trio’s guilt, but gradually begins to doubt it, eventually suspecting that her husband, Terry Hobbs, might be the true culprit. It’s a central, quite dramatic role—one that just might help people forget about How Do You Know and Water For Elephants for a little bit.
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