Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman, who last brought us the based-on-truth horror drama The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, are getting even closer to the facts for their next peek into darkness.
Dimension has nabbed rights to the book Devil’s Knot: The True Story Of The West Memphis Three for the duo to co-write and for Derrickson to direct.
The book, by Mara Levitt, follows the case of three murdered children and the Arkansas teens charged with killing them. The three suspects were accused of collaborating in a satanic cult ritual, with prosecutors citing some of the Greatest Hits of dark influences in their evidence: Stephen King books and Metallica albums.
Despite campaigns for a retrial and documentaries about the subject, the three are still in jail, with one of them on death row.
With such a touchy subject matter, the pair are hewing closer to the truth than in Emily Rose: “There is already a dark tone to the material, but we are absolutely committed to only telling the truth, and not exaggerating to entertain," Derrickson told Variety. “This was the only way we'd make the movie, and Dimension’s Bob Weinstein was right in line with us. We all understand the gravity, the high stakes of the situation, and the story is not over."