As Atom Egoyan's West Memphis Three drama The Devil's Knot heads toward its fast-approaching start date, its cast is filling up fast with incredible talent. Earlier this week, Alessandro Nivola, Collette Wolfe, Kris Polaha and Justin Castor joined the ensemble that already boasts Mireille Enos, Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth, and now Variety has uncovered that Oscar-nominee Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) and Chronicle's Dane DeHaan have entered into early negotiations to see if they can fit the feature into their hectic summer schedules.
Based on investigative journalist Mara Leveritt's bestselling book that explored the infamous murder case, Devil's Knot unfolds the mystery of who killed three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in the spring of 1993 through the eyes of Ron Lax (Firth), a private detective who took on the case pro bono. Through his exhaustive investigation Lax uncovered DNA evidence that linked one of the murdered boy's stepfather (Nivola) to the crime, making the first step to setting free Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin, who'd been dubbed The West Memphis Three.
Ryan has just wrapped on the Stallone-Schwarzenegger action-thriller The Tomb, but if Devil's Knot producers can cajole their shooting schedule to serve her, she'll portray Lax's frustrated wife, who is well on her way to divorcing her husband during the course of the drama. As for DeHaan, the rising star is getting married this summer, but should he be able to fit in this feature he'd play "a teen who has some history with the three murdered boys."
The Devil's Knot will roll into production in Georgia, on June 25th.
