Gregg Allman Appeals to "Midnight Rider" Film Director to Scrap Project

Gregg Allman, age 66, has earned his place in music history as part of the Country-Rock group known as the Allman Brothers. So when approached by veteran Hollywood director Randall Miller to product a biopic based on his memoir "My Cross to Bear", Allman jumped at the chance. Allman said he saw an opportunity to reach out to fans once more and was enthusiastically supportive.

His enthusiasm grew further when actor William Hurt was cast in the lead role to portray Allman. However, his enthusiasm abruptly ended following the events of February. That is when a freak accident with stunt woman Sarah Jones led to her death when she was struck by a train while filming scenes for the film in Georgia. Seven other crew members sustained injuries during the incident. Jones was on a bed placed on the railroad track for a scene involving two trains. However, something went amiss with the coordination of the stunt and third train showed up smashing to the bed killing Jones on impact. The crash was so forceful that bed literally exploded with flying debris shooting off in multiple directions injuring the other seven crew members.

Now, actor William Hurt has backed out of the film project. The Jones family is grieving and raising legitimate questions about crew safety on films, and Allman himself wants the entire project scrapped. However, Miller is undeterred. For this reason, Allman has written the director an open letter appealing to his sense of humanity to disband the project. Allman expressed an understanding for the need to meet obligations, but reminded Miller that above all he is a human being. For the sake of those suffering, he urged Miller to cancel filming "Midnight Rider" altogether. He is asking him to do right by the victims especially Sarah Jones.

Source:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/gregg-allman-asks-midnight-rider-director-to-stop-production-20140425

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/midnight-rider-may-not-have-been-allowed-to-shoot-during-fatal-crash-20140225