Witherspoon crime pic gets producers

TORONTO -- Canadian indie producers Brightlight Pictures and Rhombus Media have joined up with Reese Witherspoon's Type A Films to develop "Under the Bridge," a true-crime feature about the 1997 murder of a 14-year-old Canadian high school student.

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Witherspoon in 2007 initially optioned Rebecca Godfrey's book about the gruesome murder of Reena Virk by eight fellow students under a small bridge in Saanich, B.C.

Virk's death, and the subsequent trial and convictions of her slayers, provoked a national debate among Canadians over high school bullying and violence.

Vancouver-based Brightlight and Toronto-based Rhombus will partner with Type A Films to develop "Under the Bridge."

Shawn Williamson and Stephen Hegyes will produce for Brightlight, Niv Fichman for Rhombus and Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Simpson will produce for Type A Films.

No word on creative elements and casting.

Brightlight and Rhombus most recently co-produced "Gunless," a comic western starring Paul Gross and Sienna Guillory, and directed by William Philips, set for theatrical release here on April 30 by Alliance Films.