As a July 11 trial start date gets closer, the stakes in a legal battle over a proposed Lynyrd Skynyrd biopic are headed toward double trouble and the heart of American democracy, the film's producer said today. "This law suit proves that Freedom of Speech in the United States of America is officially under attack by…

EXCLUSIVE: Ian Shultis, Taylor Clift, Samuel Kay Forrest and Rich Dally III have been cast in Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash, a biopic about the iconic Southern rockers that begins shooting at month’s end in Los Angeles via Cleopatra Films. Jared Cohn directs the film, which he…

CMT is expanding its original documentary portfolio, greenlighting If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd (working title) for premiere next year. The project, from director Stephen Kijak (We Are X, Stones in Exile) and producer Passion Pictures (Searching for Sugar Man), will explore the music and…

EXCLUSIVE: Cleopatra Films, the upstart pic division of Cleopatra Records, has set a movie on seminal Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The film will be powered by the recollections of the band’s drummer, Artimus Pyle, who survived the 1977 plane crash that killed three members of the band, including lead singer…