Beltway Sniper Drama Blue Caprice Picked Up By Sundance Selects

Outside of the funeral process, the obsession with death that many Americans tend to have is never more obvious than in our movies and in our news media. That those dying of diseases and tragedies get far more coverage than the cures and the solutions that could have saved them is frustrating, and could lead to more social pessimism. And pessimism breeds murder, and murder breeds notoriety, and notoriety makes for great cinematic subject matter.

So we’ve come full circle, as the emotionally challenging film Blue Caprice, inspired by the 2002 Beltway Sniper attacks, has been picked up by Sundance Selects, which makes sense seeing as how the Sundance festival was where the film received all of its positive feedback. Though a nationwide release, limited or wide, is not mentioned, the film will open the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Arts’ 2013 New Directors/New Films Festival on March 20.

Blue Caprice is the feature debut for director Alexandre Moors, as well as screenwriter R. F. I. Porto. It stars Isaiah Washington (Grey’s Anatomy) as the dangerous brainwashing father figure John Allen Muhammad who mentors the abandoned Jamaican Lee Boyd Malvo (General Hospital’s Tequan Richmond) as they make their terror-filled journey from state to state. It also stars Tim Blake Nelson (Lincoln, Joey Lauren Adams (United States of Tara), and Leo Fitzpatrick (The Wire).

"Alexandre Moors has made one of the most distinct and haunting American independent films of the year, featuring unforgettable performances by Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond," said Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects and IFC Films.

Taken from the point of view of the killers, the film will no doubt do some heavy editorializing, forcing audiences to hate themselves as they side with Muhammad’s words. Sounds like I’m already assimilated, doesn’t it?

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.