There’s another Ted Bundy biopic coming, and yet another Disney alum is taking on the role of the serial killer. ScreenDaily has announced that Chad Michael Murray plays Bundy in Daniel Farrands’ American Boogeyman.
Rather than focusing on Bundy’s personal life like Netflix’s controversial Zac Efron vehicle Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile (which, perhaps unintentionally, made Bundy seem charming and humanized) this thriller focuses on the story of the detective who caught Bundy. According to the plot description from ScreenDaily, American Boogeyman “follows the elusive and charming killer and the manhunt that brought him to justice involving the detective and the FBI rookie who coined the phrase ‘serial killer.’” The movie will be released theatrically on August 16.
Farrands is also working on a companion film of sorts titled American Boogeywoman, about America’s most notorious female serial killer, Aileen Wuornos. That film is focused on her personal life, tracing how she became a murderer. This isn’t Farrands’ first venture into true crime thrillers: The director made The Murder Of Nicole Brown Simpson and The Haunting Of Sharon Tate in 2019.