Netflix makes Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile deal for Zac Efron's Ted Bundy movie
Aux Features FilmNetflix knows you love serial killer content, and thanks to its recent Ted Bundy documentary, it also knows you specifically love Ted Bundy content. With that extremely valuable market research, Netflix has apparently decided it’s a good idea to throw a ton of money at Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile, director Joe Berlinger’s movie with Zac Efron as Ted Bundy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix paid a “staggering $9 million” for the distribution rights to the film, beating out traditional studios like STX and Lionsgate, and it will reportedly give the movie an awards season-based theatrical run later this year.
In his write-up at Sundance, our own A.A. Dowd noted that Berlinger’s film presents Bundy’s many crimes “from a position of feigned ignorance” by leaving all of his murders off screen and telling the story from the perspective of Bundy’s girlfriend, Liz Kendall (played by Lily Collins). Dowd noted that one of the problems with the film is that the audience most likely knows that Bundy definitely committed his crimes already, which is especially going to be true for murder fans who subscribe to Netflix (since they’ll probably have already watched the Conversations With A Killer documentary that recently hit Netflix and was also directed by Berlinger).
But hey, it’s Netflix’s $9 million, so we don’t really care what it does with it.
16 Comments
Okay but when the hell are we getting more Mindhunter?
Dowd noted that one of the problems with the film is that the audience most likely knows that Bundy definitely committed his crimes alreadyDowd also noted that one of the problems with Titanic is that we already knew the ship sinks in the end.It’s only a problem if the story turns on that revelation. If the main narrative story arc is about Collins’s character, then it doesn’t matter to the audience if we know Bundy was guilty.
Actually, the ship sinking in the end was the entire reason I sat through that dreck.
You could have at least provided a spoiler alert!
Yeah, I think Dowd missed the whole point, which I thought was a pretty fresh approach. What made Bundy fascinating compared to obvious creeps like Gacy or Speck was how easily and successfully he navigated society and genuinely charmed people. Even the judge in his trial in Miami appeared more disappointed than disturbed by Bundy’s incredibly brutal crimes. And even with mountains of evidence, he still managed to marry a woman and father a child. It wasn’t “feigned ignorance” – I never got the sense that the movie wanted you to question his guilt like an episode of Dateline. There were actually women who wanted Bundy to be innocent because of what a psychopathic narcissist he was. Sure, today everyone knows Bundy as another boogie man, but during the 70s and 80s he was the “deliberate stranger” who fooled everyone because he seemed normal. People didn’t want to think such an average-looking person who walked among them could be fucking skulls in the woods.I thought Efron was really good as Bundy. The movie wasn’t amazing, it was decent, but the approach it took wasn’t the problem.
Netflix knows you love serial killers so much, so they created their own. Meet Netty the Netflix binge killer. He will kill you faster then a life style of sitting in front of your couch and watching TV for 12 hours at a time will!
A serial killer that can kill me faster than diabetes isn’t nearly the hook Netflix might think it is.
Type 3 diabetes combines insulin resistance but with a propensity to be stabbed.
It’s just creepy how much Zac Efron gives off the Bundy vibe when he’s in character, even just in a photo.
Dowd noted that one of the problems with the film is that the audience most likely knows that Bundy definitely committed his crimes alreadyThat’s not a problem. We know that Bundy did it, and we know that Liz doesn’t know that Bundy did it. That’s a pretty common writing trick. I think it’s called irony.
Holy shit, why are Ted Bundy movies suddenly a hot thing? Are people who were around in the 70’s suddenly all nostalgic for getting murdered?
As someone who was alive in the ‘70s in Florida, watched his sentencing on TV (back when there were, like, 2 channels), and lived in the dorm across from the Chi Omega house at FSU, I’d rather his name be stricken from the language much less treated as cultural popcorn.
“Netflix knows you love Ted Bundy content” is what your editor makes you write instead of “Netflix knows you love Ted Bundy.”
Oh God, more about this creep. I admit the documentary was kind of interesting. And true, he didn’t look like a ghoul or anything. But was he really that good looking? Why not just get it over with already and put him on the cover of Rolling Stone with the title, “Ted Bundy: He’s Hot, He’s Sexy, He’s a Serial Killer and He’s Dead.”
“Dowd noted that one of the problems with the film is that the audience most likely knows that Bundy definitely committed his crimes already, which is especially going to be true for murder fans who subscribe to Netflix”
The title is also a bit of a giveaway.
I’ll never understand the current obsession with true crime murder stories. I know people who can’t get enough of these shows. I realize every police show on TV is about murder, but these shows dissecting the details of real cases just kind of depress me.