Disney’s High School Musical star Zac Efron is set to play the infamous serial killer, Ted Bundy, in a biopic about his murderous life. The killer was executed in 1989 following his confession to the murder of dozens of women. The upcoming film is appropriately called Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and has director Joe Berlinger at the helm, who is best known for his true-crime documentaries.
When you mistake @ZacEfron for the actual Ted Bundy! Holy shit.. #TedBundy #ZacEfron #Scarilyaccurate #Lookalike #Actor pic.twitter.com/xcf9Q0tTwy
— ‘Lia Lecter ☠ (@EatTheRude__) April 19, 2018
Zac Efron has the look down playing Ted Bundy. pic.twitter.com/4bNkr6oZM2
— Captain (@truecrimegarage) February 3, 2018
From images that have been shared, it certainly looks like Zac Efron was a fantastic choice for the role, at least visually. Although we will have to wait and see how he fairs, as this is a much darker character and story than we are used to the actor portraying. That being said, the enthusiasm that he has shown for the role has been vast and i’m pretty confident that he will perform well.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile will follow the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his long-time girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer. Kloepfer was in denial about the actions of her boyfriend for years. The script was penned by Michael Werwie. The writer revealed a little bit about what we can expect from the movie in an interview, he said:
“The common thread among everyone who knew him was that he had this facade that led you to believe that there was no possible way for this to be true. It was essentially a con man story. It was a classic unreliable narrator, and once I decided on that, you could have him say pretty much anything. He could defend his innocence the entire script, and the most powerful revelation would be the one time that he admits to it.”
Zac Efron as ted bundy in his new movie pic.twitter.com/y3pnbJ63go
— @Georgebakhos1 (@GeorgeBakhos1) January 17, 2018
Here’s Zac Efron as Ted Bundy In ‘Extremely Wicked’ https://t.co/yCfdH7mKq3 pic.twitter.com/wfjG1JN4yu
— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) February 1, 2018
Counting down the days till the Ted Bundy/Zac Efron film comes out 🤗 pic.twitter.com/2GPJeXzEFg
— Katie Snooks (@KateSnooks) June 28, 2018
.@ZacEfron as Ted Bundy 😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/GCGXGShoGL
— Madelaine Kimmie Ho (@iamKimmieHo) January 26, 2018
Acting alongside Efron is Lily Collins as Elizabeth Kloepfer, Jim Parsons as prosecutor Larry Simpson, and Kaya Scodelario as Bundy’s ex-wife Carole Anne Boone. James Hetfield of the band Metallica reportedly has a cameo role in the film.
Based on the talent involved in this film, it has the potential to be a massive success. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing Zac Efron in such a contrasting role to his family-friendly back catalogue.
There is no current release date for the Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, but it is expected early next year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfiyhnpnFGy/?taken-by=zacefron
Are you looking forward to the Ted Bundy biopic? Was Zac Efron the right choice? Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments!