Making its debut at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival this month is Alexandre Moors's Blue Caprice – the drama based on the story of the real-life Beltway (Washington D.C. area) sniper attacks of 2002, perpetrated by John Allen Muhammad, and Lee Boyd Malvo.
Isaiah Washington stars as John Allen, and Tequan Richmond, best known for TV's Everybody Hates Chris, as Lee Boyd Malvo.
The film's official synopsis reads:
Blue Caprice examines one of the most charged and enigmatic events of the past decade: the 2002 shooting spree that terrorized the Washington, D.C. area and would come to be known as the Beltway sniper attacks. The film tells the story of the two snipers, Lee Malvo and John Williams, during the months leading up to the shootings, piecing together clues in an attempt to understand the circumstances and motives behind their horrific actions.
To further expound on the film's contents, here's an excerpt from an interview Vanessa did with Washington last fall, in which Blue Caprice was discussed:
VM: Tell me about Blue Caprice, in which you will play D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad and which you’re currently filming. How did you prepare for the role?
IW: I’m a human being, I’m going to have to tell the truth and bring honesty to the script, but, I can say that the best thing has been two books I read; one by Russian author from the 19th century Fyodor Dostoyevsky called Notes from the Underground and the book Scared Silent from John Allen Muhammad’s former wife [Mildred Muhammad]. Hopefully, it [Blue Caprice] will be very thought provoking, very intense, funny. Hopefully, people will walk out of the theater really confused about how they feel over what they thought they knew about this man because, what we see is ‘wow, this man is also trying to be a good father to his 3 kids and they were taken way from him. Now…does that excuse his behavior? Nah! But I will say that although you may not agree, hopefully it will help you understand.
VM: Tequan Richmond plays your young accomplice in the film, Lee Boyd Malvo. How is working with him?
IW: He’s going to be the breakout star of this film. I’m sure he’s going to be the one that gets all the awards and nominations. He’s young, a great professional, highly motivated, very passionate about this role and the film. I wish him nothing but the best. I told him, “if you don’t get nominated for an Oscar for this; I’m wasting my time!"
I think I speak for other S&A writers when I say that we're looking forward to seeing this film, which will likely stir up some controversy, or at least memories of the period that's at the center of its narrative.
I was scheduled to attend a pre-Sundance screening of the film last night, BUT, unfortunately, I couldn't make it, which I regret, because I really wanted to see it.
But we'll be seeing it at Sundance, and a review will follow of course.
No new trailer yet, other than the 34-second teaser we posted last year. But a first official poster has surfaced, which you can see below (courtesy of EW).
