
Photo Credit: AP
"Gosnell," a movie about Kermit Gosnell, the infamous abortion doctor who was found guilty of first degree murder in 2013 and is currently serving a life sentence, will be directed by actor Nick Searcy, the team behind the film has announced.
Searcy, who stars as Art Mullen in the FX show "Justified" and is known for being outspoken about his conservative views, will direct "Gosnell," a crowdfunded project that raised nearly $2.3 million on Indiegogo last year, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The filmmakers behind the movie — PhelimMcAleer, Ann McElhinney and Magdalena Segieda — also revealed that "Gosnell," which was originally planned as a made-for-TV project, will now be a theatrical release, the outlet reported.
Nick Searcy arrives at The Television Academy presents An Evening with 'Justified' held at Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre on March 19, 2014 in North Hollywood, California. (Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
"I am both excited and humbled by the opportunity to have a part in bringing this important American story to the screen," Searcy told the Hollywood Reporter. "It is a story that many in Hollywood were unwilling to tell, and I am grateful to Ann, Phelim and Magdalena for having the courage to tell it."
The actor and director said that there are three elements that he finds most fascinating about Gosnell's story: what happened inside the doctor's filthy, Philadelphia clinic, why it happened and why no one — journalists included — wanted to discuss it in the aftermath.
Searcy will be joined on the film by bestselling writer Andrew Klavan, who will pen the script, and executive producer John Sullivan.
McAleer, who has called Gosnell “part Hannibal Lecter, part Dr. Kevorkian,” told TheBlaze last year that he wants to tell the story of Gosnell's life and his actions at his clinic.
He also said at the time that the public is tired of Hollywood hiding, censoring and ignoring stories like Gosnell’s, a fact he believes was validated by the campaign’s success.
As TheBlaze has extensively reported, Gosnell was convicted in 2013 of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies at his Women’s Medical Society clinic in Philadelphia, among other charges.
Image source: GosnellMovie.com
Prosecutors charged that babies were born and subsequently killed at the clinic when a sharp object was used to sever their spinal cords. Gosnell was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of KarnamayaMongar, a woman who died during an abortion procedure in 2009.
(H/T: Hollywood Reporter)