Amanda Knox blasted the new "Stillwater" movie, starring Matt Damon, from profiting off her story and saying it was done "without my consent" in tweets and an essay on the site Medium.
The film's director Tom McCarthy said in early July at the Cannes Film Festival, where his film was shown, that Knox's case was an "initial inspiration point but not much beyond that," the Associated Press reported. Knox's name garnered international attention after she was convicted alongside her then-boyfriend for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy. The convictions were later dismissed by Italy's highest court and an unrelated man is now serving 16 years for Kercher's death.
In "Stillwater," Matt Damon's character travels to France to assist his daughter Allison, played by Abigail Breslin, who has been convicted for the murder of her girlfriend in Marseille.
"Does my name belong to me? Does my face? What about my life? My story? Why is my name used to refer to events I had no hand in? I return to these questions because others continue to profit off my name, face, and story without my consent," Knox wrote on Medium.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Knox is speaking out about her name being associated with the new film "Stillwater," saying any connection rips off "my story without my consent at the expense of my reputation."
"Stillwater" features a case that has generated lurid headlines. Knox is never named on-screen, but in interviews the filmmakers have noted her sensational case was an initial jumping-off point for the script.
In tweets and an essay on the site Medium, Knox called out various publications and director Tom McCarthy for using her name to promote the movie. She wrote that his "fictionalized version of me is just the tabloid conspiracy guiltier version of me."
Knox was the subject of worldwide headlines after the murder in Perugia, Italy, of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007. Knox and Knox's then-boyfriend were placed under suspicion.
"By fictionalizing away my innocence, my total lack of involvement, by erasing the role of the authorities in my wrongful conviction, McCarthy reinforces an image of me as a guilty and untrustworthy person," Knox wrote.
At the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, where "Stillwater" was screened, McCarthy said "I just had a daughter then and I thought how it would be like," in regards to Knox's case.
In a later interview with The Associated Press to promote "Stillwater," McCarthy said he "didn't want to kind of copy or mimic" Knox's legal ordeal. "It's loosely inspired by that case, so I didn't want to try and do a recreation of that. I want Allison to kind of be her own stand-alone character, but it was definitely great to have that for a reference."
Many reviews and feature stories about "Stillwater" have mentioned Knox as an inspiration for the plot, including The Associated Press. The film opens Friday. The studio releasing the film, Focus Features, didn't immediately respond to emails Friday.
