Thora Birch to Direct and Co-Star in THE GABBY PETITO STORY at Lifetime

Lifetime has announced that they are developing a movie based on the tragic story of Gabby Petito, the young woman who was missing, then found to have been murdered by her boyfriend while on a cross-country road trip. Emmy-nominated actress Thora Birch (The Walking Dead, American Beauty) is attached to co-star in the film as well as direct in her helming debut.

Birch will play Gabby’s mom in the film, Nichole Schmidt. Deadline reports that the movie, part of Lifetime’s Stop Violence Against Women public affairs initiative, comes as the anniversary of Gabby Petito’s disappearance and murder approaches this fall.

The film “will explore Gabby and her fiancé Brian Laundrie’s complicated relationship and what may have gone wrong during their cross-country trip that resulted in Gabby’s tragic murder. The movie will film in Utah this summer and premiere later this year.”

Lifetime also will create a new PSA to debut as part of the movie’s rollout, driving to the important work of the network’s coalition of partners to provide resources for women. As a leader in telling powerful stories of women and providing a platform to shine a light on unheard voices, Lifetime is in development on several movies surrounding violence against women who may not have had the same media attention as Gabby Petito. These include the stories of Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, Adriane Fields and Beatrice Weston, among others, with each project in various stages of development.