Colin Firth Joins West Memphis Three Movie

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JANUARY 15: Actor Colin Firth poses in the press room at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 15, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photo: Kevin Winter/2012 Getty Images

The recently freed West Memphis Three are having a movie moment — Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory was just Oscar-nominated, while the Amy Berg–directed documentary on the trio, West of Memphis, just premiered at Sundance — and the spotlight’s about to shine even brighter. Atom Egoyan has set Colin Firth to co-star with Reese Witherspoon in his own film about the case, in which three men were accused of child murders without a shred of physical evidence, then released from prison last year after a long campaign on their behalf. Firth will play private investigator Ron Lax, who repped the West Memphis Three pro bono and worked on their case for years, while Witherspoon will play the mother of one of the victims, who eventually comes to believe in the innocence of the three accused men. Deadline’s Mike Fleming reported the casting, and says Egoyan plans to add more big names to fill small parts soon.

Colin Firth Joins West Memphis Three Movie