Gabby Petito TV movie to air on Lifetime
Actor Thora Birch, left, will direct and co-star in a Lifetime TV movie about slain Long Island native Gabby Petito. Birch will play Petito's mother. Credit: Composite: Invision / AP / Chris Pizzello, left; Nomadic Statik via YouTube
Lifetime will air "The Gabby Petito Story" (working title), a made-for-cable movie with Emmy Award-nominated Thora Birch ("The Walking Dead," "American Beauty") co-starring and directing. Birch will play Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt; the role of Petito has not yet been cast. The movie is part of Lifetime’s Stop Violence Against Women public affairs initiative.
The TV movie will explore Blue Point native Petito and her fiance Brian Laundrie’s complicated relationship and what might have gone wrong during their cross-country trip last summer that resulted in the 22-year-old woman's killing. The movie will film in Utah this summer and premiere later this year.
According to a Lifetime release: "The movie will bring to life Gabby and Brian's doomed love story, including the warning signs that Gabby’s life was in danger, the ensuing search for her, the eventual discovery of her murder and ultimately, Brian's suicide."
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