Latest news with #LBIEntertainment
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Karen Read Makes Bold Cash Grab 9 Days After Murder Acquittal
Karen Read is officially developing a scripted adaptation of her two murder trials, just nine days after her retrial ended in an acquittal. The former financial analyst, 45, recently penned a deal with LBI Entertainment, the production company behind Martin Scorsese's 2023 drama Killers of the Flower Moon, which was nominated for 10 Oscars. The company will now work with Read and her defense attorney, Alan Jackson, to develop a script based on her three-year legal saga. In addition to the scripted adaptation, Read and Jackson also hope to secure a book deal, having recently signed with literary agency Janklow & Nesbit. Read was first arrested in 2022 after her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O'Keefe, was found dead outside the home of a fellow Boston Police officer in Canton, Massachusetts. At the time, police alleged Read had drunkenly struck O'Keefe, 46, with her car after an argument. She was charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision. However, Jackson argued that the case, which was plagued by conflicts of interest and allegations of police misconduct, was a cover-up. The defense believes O'Keefe's real killers were fellow police officers who had beaten him to death in a drunken fight, then framed Read for the crime. The scripted adaptation will 'reflect Read's insight into the investigators' conduct and showcase Jackson's architecture of a murder defense,' Deadline reports. Read's case gained national attention during her first trial in 2024, with true crime fanatics divided on whether the defendant was the innocent victim of a police conspiracy or a cunning murderer who killed her lover in cold blood. Her national profile only skyrocketed when the case ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous consensus. Read's retrial began in April, with dozens of demonstrators gathering outside the courthouse daily to advocate alternatively for her acquittal or conviction. Read's defense team, led by Jackson, presented numerous alternative theories to explain O'Keefe's death and reiterated claims that the police may have tampered with Read's car to make the collision story appear more viable. On June 18, a jury acquitted Read of both manslaughter and murder, though she received a year's probation for operating under the influence. However, Read still faces a wrongful death lawsuit brought by O'Keefe's family, who maintain that she struck and killed him with her Lexus SUV. A judge previously ruled that the civil lawsuit could not move forward until Read's criminal case was resolved, and the family elected not to drop the suit after she was acquitted of the murder. The suit, filed by O'Keefe's brother, parents, and his niece, for whom he was serving as legal guardian when he died, seeks at least $50,000 in damages. While this will be the first scripted adaptation, Read's highly publicized story has already been the subject of several true crime adaptations. It was chronicled in the 2024 true crime podcast 34 Fairview Road (a reference to the address where O'Keefe's body was found), and 2024 episodes of both Dateline and 20/20. More recently, Investigation Discovery released a docuseries about the case, A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read, in March. Netflix is also developing a three-part documentary.
CBS News
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Karen Read, defense attorney Alan Jackson reportedly teaming up for film script and book
Karen Read reportedly working on script, book after acquittal in death of John O'Keefe Karen Read reportedly working on script, book after acquittal in death of John O'Keefe Karen Read reportedly working on script, book after acquittal in death of John O'Keefe Karen Read is taking her story to Hollywood. According to multiple entertainment industry reports, Read and her prominent defense attorney Alan Jackson are teaming up again following her acquittal on charges in the death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe, this time for a book and scripted film project. Variety and Deadline reported that Read and Jackson will give exclusive access as part of a scripted project being developed by LBI Entertainment. It is not known if the project will be a movie or television production. Variety reported that the script will include "crucial aspects of the story that have remained undisclosed to the public." According to the entertainment outlets, Read and Jackson are also simultaneously working on a book. A jury acquitted Read of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death on June 18. She was convicted of operating under the influence of alcohol and sentenced to one year probation. It was the second time Read faced trial in O'Keefe's death. In 2024, her first trial ended with a mistrial due to a hung jury. Read's defense team successfully convinced jurors in the retrial that the prosecution did not prove she backed her Lexus SUV into O'Keefe after a night of heavy drinking. Read has argued since O'Keefe's death in January 2022 that she was being framed by a group of people that includes law enforcement. Following her acquittal, Read is still facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the O'Keefe family in 2024.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RI's Verdi Productions to team with Scorsese, DiCaprio to film action thriller in October
EAST GREENWICH – Rhode Island movie producer Chad A. Verdi Sr. will team up with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio to film several movies in Rhode Island over the next five years, Verdi Productions announced on Tuesday, May 27. First up will be the action thriller "Carthage Must Be Destroyed," with casting already begun for filming to start in the Ocean State in October. In addition to Verdi, Scorsese and DiCaprio, "Carthage" will be produced by LBI Entertainment's Christopher Donelly and Gareth West, with Michelle Verdi, Chad Verdi Jr., Paul Luba, Jennifer Davisson, Lisa Frechette and Sera Verdi on the production team. The production companies are Sikelia Productions, Appian Way Productions, Verdi Productions, and Ketchup Entertainment. "Carthage" will be directed by Ted Griffin, writer of "Ocean's Eleven." The story follows a stranger in a rust-belt city in decline that is ruled by the criminal underworld. The stranger looks to create chaos to bring the downfall of the corrupt power structure. Verdi Productions will spend more than $150 million over the next five years on roughly 20 projects, some of which will include the involvement of Scorsese and DiCaprio, according to Verdi Sr. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Scorsese, DiCaprio, Verdi Productions film Carthage Must Be Destroyed
