Gabby Petito Lifetime Movie Nearing Completion, Premiere Date Set!
By MLC on August 13, 2022 at 11:00 AM EDT
This month marks the tragic death of Gabby Petito.
The 22-year-old was murdered by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in a Wyoming national park.
Her remains were discovered on September 19, 2021 after her mother reported her missing on September 11, 2021.
The One-Year Anniversary Of Gabby's Death Is Approaching
In the months following her death, her family created the Gabby Petito Foundation with the mission to “address the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons and to provide aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies.”
October marks the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the Lifetime Network will premiere “The Gabby Petito Story.”
According to Fox News Digital, the film will premiere on October 1, to start DVAM.
“The Gabby Petito Story” will star Skyler Samuels as Gabby and Evan Hall as Brian.
Skyler Samuels Will Portray Gabby Petito
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Samuels is known for her roles in “Scream Queens,” “Nine Lives Of Chloe King” and “Switched Before Birth.”
Hall played a recurring character on Netflix’s “Orange Is The New Black” and a series regular on Nat Geo’s “Mars.”
In a statement shared to Fox News Digital, “The movie will bring to life Gabby and Brian’s doomed love story, including the warning signs that Gabby’s life was in danger, the ensuing search for her, the eventual discovery of her murder and, ultimately, Brian’s suicide."
The first trailer for the film dropped on Thursday, August 11, and it is chilling!
The movie will be directed by Emmy-Award winning actress Thora Birch, who is known for her roles in “The Walking Dead” and “American Beauty.” Birch will also star as Nichole Schmidt, Gabby’s mother, in the movie.
Watch The Chilling Trailer
“The Gabby Petito” story is part of Lifetime’s public affairs initiative called “Stop Violence Against Women.”
Following the Lifetime movie’s premiere, a documentary titled, “Beyond The Headlines: Gabby Petito” will air. The documentary will take a closer look at her complicated relationship with Brian and the cross-country road trip that led to her murder.
Recently, the Petito-Schmidt families filed a $50 million lawsuit against Utah Police who pulled over Brian and Gabby after a domestic violence dispute was called in.
Gabby's Family Is Suing Utah Police For $50 Million
You may recall that Brian and Gabby were stopped by police in Moab, Utah after a citizen called in a domestic violence dispute.
A passerby claimed to see a male (Brian) hitting a female (Gabby). A traffic stop was made on August 12, 2021.
Police body camera footage show a tearful and distraught Gabby in the back of a squad car while Brian joked around with cops by their conversion van.
Gabby’s family is accusing the department of failing to properly investigate her domestic violence case and protect her. Her family is seeking multi-millions in damages.
The Petito-Schmidt families filed the lawsuit against Moab City Police Department, its then-Chief Bret Edge, ex-Assistant Chief Braydon Palmer, and Officers Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins, according to NBC News.
While Gabby was in the back of the cop car, she explained that she was the first to hit Laundrie and he retaliated by grabbing her face.
The call resulted in no arrests despite Utah state law mandating an arrest or citation in domestic violence incidents.
Neither Gabby nor Brian wanted to press charges, but they were required to spend the night apart after the altercation.
Weeks following the traffic stop, Gabby’s body was discovered in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.