Lorena Bobbitt Biopic Greenlit at Lifetime
By Will Thorne
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Lorena Bobbitt’s story is getting the biopic treatment.
Lifetime has greenlit “I Was ,” a feature about the woman who became a household name and made tabloid headlines when she cut off her husband’s penis with a knife in 1993 after years of abuse.
Bobbitt was the subject of a Jordan Peele-produced Amazon docuseries which came out less than a year ago, and this new retelling has Bobbitt herself on board as an executive producer. Casting on the project is underway and production will begin later this month. The film, announced by A+E Networks president of programming Rob Sharenow at ’s Television Critics’ Association winter tour press day, will follow Bobbitt’s “journey from a wide-eyed, immigrant bride to a battered wife into an unlikely media sensation.”
“I Was Lorena Bobbitt” hails from Cineflix International and executive producers Andy Streitfeld, Jeff Vanderwal and Charles Tremayne. Barbara Nance wrote the project which is being directed by Danishka Esterhazy.
Lifetime also revealed it is teaming with Elizabeth Smart, who overcame her own harrowing abduction when she 14, on a series of hour-long specials called “Smart Justice.” Each episode will provide behind-the-scenes information on tragic crimes through real case evidence including police video, crime scene materials, interrogation tapes and courtroom footage, as well as interviews with the victims and family members.
In other Lifetime news, the network has ordered five new movies based on V.C. Andrews’ “Ruby Landry” series to air in time for the 2020-2021 TV season, following its “Casteel Family” movie series which was also based on the author’s work.
The first of the new features, titled “Ruby,” will star Australian twins Raechelle Banno as Ruby and Karina Banno as Giselle.
Here’s the logline for the first feature: Watched over by her loving Grandmère Catherine, Ruby Landry is filled with hope as love blooms with her high school sweetheart Paul Tate, but lingering thoughts of her mysterious father and her mother’s death often creep into Ruby’s mind.
Additional films in the series will include “Pearl in the Mist,” “All That Glitters,” “Hidden Jewel” and “Tarnished Gold.” The series hails from Reel One Entertainment and executive producers Tom Berry, Dan Angel, Jane Starz and Ric Nish, as well as screenwriters Richard Blaney, Gregory Small, Scarlett Lacey, Andy Cochran and Alison Lea Bingeman. Gail Harvey is set to direct “Ruby.”
Finally, Lifetime revealed the premiere date for “The Clark Sister: First Ladies of Gospel,” a movie which tells the story of the highs and lows of the top-selling female gospel group of all time.
The film, which counts Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott among its executive producers, will debut on the network on Saturday, April 11. It stars Aunjanue Ellis, Christina Bell, Kierra Sheard, Sheléa Frazier, Raven Goodwin and Angela Birchett. Christine Swanson directed the feature based on a script from Sylvia L. Jones and Camille Tucker.
