The studio has bought worldwide rights to the much-talked-about documentary about the West Memphis Three case, which opened to great critical acclaim at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
- Mar 1, 2012
AceShowbiz - Peter Jackson's much-talked-about documentary "West of Memphis" has finally found its distributor. Sony Pictures Classics announced that it has obtained the worldwide rights to the Amy Berg-directed movie about the infamous West Memphis Three case.
In a statement released on Wednesday, February 29, Berg confirmed the partnership while expressing her excitement over the new agreement. "I'm very excited for this powerful story to be making its way to theaters and know that having Sony Pictures Classics as our partner is the surest way to catapult our film to the widest possible audience," said the Oscar-nominated filmmaker.
Jackson along with co-producer Fran Walsh chimed in, "We are very proud to be partnering with Sony Pictures Classics on the release of 'West of Memphis'. We have been working with Lorri Davis, Damien Echols and his defense team for the past seven years, and during that time we came to understand that this was not just a story of a terrible injustice."
On the other hand, Sony Pictures Classics stated, "With 'Deliver Us From Evil', Amy Berf became a major documentary filmmaker. Seeing 'West of Memphis' at Sundance, we felt Amy had outdone herself with this extraordinary anatomy and investigation of injustice."
"We look forward to collaborating with her and producers Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Damien Echols and Lorri Davis in bringing this exciting and important drama to audiences everywhere," the studio added in its official statement.
"West of Memphis" was made to uncover the true story of Damien Echolls, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr, three Arkansas teenagers who were convicted in 1994 of the murders of three West Memphis boys in 1993. The three youngsters were jailed for over 18 years before finally being released in August 2011.
The documentary was screened during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the Documentary Premiere Section and has received acclaim reviews from critics. It is still unclear when Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in theaters across the U.S.
