Actor and director Clint Eastwood says he will start production on "The Ballad of Richard Jewell" this summer in Atlanta — despite movie and TV industry boycotts over Georgia's new “heartbeat” abortion law.
NBC affiliate WCNC in Charlotte, N.C., reported the decision Tuesday, adding Eastwood will direct the film, and is in talks with Disney and Fox about distribution.
The film is based on the life of a security guard whose life was turned upside down after it was leaked by law enforcement that Jewell was a possible suspect in the Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Kathy Bates, Olivia Wilde, Jon Hamm, and Sam Rockwell are expected to star.
The star-studded production comes amid a protest by over 40 stars and dozens of film production representatives who signed an open letter to Georgia's GOP Gov. Brian Kemp trying to stop the measure, which outlaws abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks — before a woman might know she is pregnant.
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