The Trailer for the Upcoming ‘Gosnell’ Movie Will Shock You

The long-awaited film “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer” is slated to hit theaters on October 12.

A trailer for the film, directed by Nick Searcy and starring Dean Cain in the lead role of a detective investigating an abortion doctor’s crimes, was released on Wednesday afternoon.

The movie (rated PG-13) is based on the sensational story of doctor Kermit Gosnell, who ran a multimillion-dollar abortion practice in West Philadelphia.

Gosnell was arrested in 2011 and charged with seven counts of first-degree murder for newborns and one third-degree murder of an expectant mother.

Related: Director-Actor Nick Searcy Shows a Clip from Upcoming ‘Gosnell’ Film

It was believed the doctor had been performing late-term abortions and cutting the spinal cords of delivered babies.

The harrowing grand jury report alleged that Gosnell may have cut the spinal cords of hundreds of babies who were born alive. If true, that would make him the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history.

After a high-profile court trial that received scant media attention, Gosnell was convicted in May 2013 of just three counts of murder. He received three consecutive life sentences.

Director Nick Searcy has made clear on Twitter that his film will stick to the facts and emotions of the case, rather than trying to hit people over the head with a political message.

“When art pushes a political agenda, it isn’t art. It’s propaganda,” Searcy said. “And propaganda has its place, and isn’t bad in and of itself. It’s fine to push an agenda. Just stop pretending you’re trying to make entertainment for everyone to enjoy.”

“The film I directed, @GosnellMovie, does not push an agenda,” he added. “It tells the truth about an event that happened, and allows the audience to make up their own minds about what they think about it.”

LifeZette talked with film producer Ann McElhinney, who co-authored the best-selling book “Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer” with fellow filmmaker Phelim McAleer, in February 2017 about the intensive film project.

“I think it’s very simply one of the things that was very important in the trial. It was important that the jury [be] able to distinguish between legal abortion and illegal abortion,” McElhinney said.

The producers raised over $2.3 million and in May 2014 held the record for highest fundraising total on the crowdfunding platform.

“In order for that to be established, it was important to have two abortion doctors take the stand to describe what legal abortion is like,” she continued. “That’s why the media didn’t want to cover this story — because that testimony was deeply shocking and disturbing.”

“That’s what put them off,” she added, referring to the media’s unwillingness to devote much attention to the story.

“They took on the job of censor rather than journalist,” she continued. “The job of journalists should be to report the news, whether they like it or not.”

“Gosnell” grew from a film project into reality due to a historic crowdfunding effort on Indiegogo. The producers raised over $2.3 million and in May 2014 held the record for highest fundraising total on the crowdfunding platform.

Watch the trailer below: