The filmmakers behind a controversial feature about abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, now serving a life sentence, have released the first trailer ahead of a theatrical debut.
Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer opens wide Oct. 12 through GVN Releasing and stars Dean Cain as the detective who put Gosnell behind bars.
The film gets its title from a 2014 grand jury report that accuses the doctor of killing hundreds of newborns over the course of several decades in Philadelphia, though he was convicted of just three counts of first-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter.
The movie, directed by Justified actor Nick Searcy and starring Earl Billings as Gosnell, has had a tough road, with producers Phelim McAleer and Anne McElhinney claiming that they were thrown off Kickstarter due to the anti-abortion nature of their film and had difficulty setting business meetings via traditional Hollywood avenues.
Most recently, the film was blocked by the judge in the Gosnell trial, who sued over his portrayal in the film as part of “Philadelphia’s liberal corrupt government,” though that issue, too, has been settled.
Gosnell, in fact, indicts not only the doctor but also government officials, the legal system and the media for ignoring what the filmmakers say was a pretty sensational trial in 2013. The trailer shows an empty press gallery, based on a photo at the time where about a dozen “reserved media” signs stretch across courtroom benches where no one was sitting.
