Blumhouse Planning True Crime Movie, A Wilderness Of Error

Amongst the many talents of rightfully feted documentarian Errol Morris are the journalistic skills that honed the investigative crime report, A Wilderness of Error. The book is a full account of the trial of Jeffrey MacDonald, a sometime Green Beret who was charged, tried and convicted of murdering his wife and two daughters. According to Morris' book, there were many mistake made in the investigation of these crimes, and the further along the system the trial went, the more they were compounded. It works as an indictment of the US justice system, and particularly how momentum can drive a case away from fact and into accepted wisdom. Morris' original plan was apparently to make a documentary film about the case, but this did not happen. Now cinema comes back into the picture, with Blumhouse looking to make a fictional account of the story. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Moneyball's Rachael Horovitz will co-produce. Blumhouse are best known for responsibly-priced horror films, and have a secondary reputation for making low-budget pictures that they then don't release - or at least give a very minor release. But Jason Blum was also a producer on Whiplash, for example. I always feel a little awkward when real-life tales of murder and miscarriage of justice become thrillers, though I also support giving these stories the oxygen and opening up the debate. There's no director attached to Wilderness of Error just yet. It's going to need a good one, and a good script too, I think.