EXCLUSIVE: Emily the Criminal Independent Spirit Best Supporting nominee Theo Rossi is set to star in Vincent Grashaw’s biopic, Bruton, about Bryan Bruton, who was sentenced to a decade in a Florida prison for an unintended crime.
Bruton was charged in the early 2000s for a manslaughter conviction from a fatal hit and run in Jacksonville, Fl. The movie will follow Bruton’s journey through the correctional system.
In the wake of his release and moving to California, Bruton turned to making the YouTube video series Bryan Bruton Crazy Prison Stories. Bruton’s videos canvases life in the Florida prison system from, from how inmates obtain and conceal drugs, alcohol and weapons to cutting the window out of one’s jail cell.
Grashaw (Bang Bang, What Josiah Saw) also wrote the screenplay. Bruton recently wrapped production in Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi.
Watch on Deadline
“It’s a wild journey. The fact that it’s a true story and the things we did actually happened set it apart from other prison films. I truly don’t think there’s another one out there like this. Theo gave it everything from the jump and it was a pleasure watching him transform into this flawed and charismatic character,” said Grashaw about working with Rossi.
Demetrius Stear, Ryan Francis, Colin Bates, Nicholas Carmona, Kris and Mike Dorrance are producing with Theo Rossi as EP. A Mind’s Eye, EverBright Pictures, DreamSyndicate and Skipping Stone Entertainment will handle production.
Rossi appeared in the Netflix movie Carry-On opposite Jason Bateman and Taron Edgerton and also in HBO’s The Penguin as Dr. Julian Rush. He starred opposite Aubrey Plaza in Emily the Criminal which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He is also known for roles in Marvel’s Luke Cage, Sons of Anarchy and Army of the Dead.
Up next, Rossi executive produces and stars in the indie drama Come with Me, reuniting with his Sons of Anarchy co-star Ron Perlman, which Deadline broke exclusively.
The actor is repped by Paradigm, Entertainment 360 and Schreck Rose Dapello.
The post Theo Rossi Starring In Biopic ‘Bruton’ About Former Florida Prison Inmate appeared first on Deadline.
