Zac Efron IS Ted Bundy! (Upcoming movie)

Looks like the former High School Musical heartthrob is putting some special effort into roughing up his image, something that the upcoming Baywatch movie likely isn't going to do. Check this out, from the Hollywood Reporter:

"Ahead of the release of his latest film Baywatch, Zac Efron has signed on to a new film project, and he'll be playing one of the world's most notorious serial killers.

"Efron will star as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, which will be helmed by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory).

"Michael Werwie wrote the script for the project, which is told through the perspective of Elizabeth Kloepfer, Bundy's longtime girlfriend, who went years denying the accusations against Bundy but ultimately turned him in to the police. Only nearing his execution, when Bundy began talking about his extensive and heinous murders, did Kloepfer, and the rest of the world, learn the true scope of his numerous and grisly crimes. The script earned Werwie the coveted Nicholl Fellowship first prize and landed on the Black List."

Could be interesting - I always like it when teen idol types take these sorts of wildly counterintuitive roles. More here: Cannes: Zac Efron to Play Ted Bundy in 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile'

 

Sacrilege!

He's no Ed O'Neill!

 

Not that Ted Bundy.

 

My wife loves Zac Efron, but says she will not see him in this. And she sees every movie he does.

Darryl

 

So bad.. Cary Elwes played Bundy He was perfect.. in the river man movie
Zacky is just a kid.. does not have acting chops to play bundy..

 

That's Al Bundy.

Efron is too young to play a convincing Ted Bundy. They already did a decent TV movie with Mark Harmon (I think?). Never the less, I guess Bundy's story is still interesting to people. In some ways, he was a fairly unique serial killer: lawyer wannabe, escaping jail, good looking guy; etc.

 

Bundy was a law school student who didn't complete the program.

 

You're right. It's been awhile since I read the Ann Rule book. My mistake.

 

The TV movie with Mark Harmon was outstanding--gave me major creeps at the time. And talk about playing against type--Harmon was chilling in the role.

5 Actors Who Played Real-Life Killers With Chilling Accuracy

 

Who would want to watch a movie about Ted Bundy? He was an evil man who did nothing but slaughter helpless girls. Not interesting.

 

Plenty interesting IMHO. Are we only allowed to watch lighthearted movies now? Ted Bundy is human darkness incarnate, but a bit of him may be in all of us.

 

No, I like good horror movies as much as the next guy, but all Bundy did was enter a sorority house and murder girls in their sleep. Nothing clever or interesting about him whatsoever.

 

Sorry. I meant Al Bundy.

 

He did much, much more than just murder a couple of sorority girls. He was described as "evil incarnate" and he agreed with the assessment.

 

Good point, but it didn't keep me from watching Helter Skelter or Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.

 

Most humans are fascinated by the evil that lurks within us. True crime is very popular for this reason.

 

Efron is 29 - he'll be 3o in October.

Bundy was late 20s/early 30s when he did his deeds.

Seems like Efron's just the right age!

 

I didn't realize Efron was that old. I stand corrected.

 

I don't think you're alone - I think most people still think of him as a teen/college-age actor.

It's been more than a decade since the first "High School Musical", though, so time marches on!

 

Fitting - Efron is creepy as hell offscreen, too.

 

Hope he can pull it off.

Great story.

 

If they "Steve Carrel in Foxcatcher" his face, the look'll probably work. Hopefully he has the acting chops for it... haven't seen him in anything that really requires that much range (except Hairspray or Parkland)

 

You seem to be thinking of Richard Speck.

 

I don't know how good an actor Efron is, but indeed he's not a bad choice for the role age and looks-wise. Part of the thing with Bundy was that he was the last person people who knew him would've suspected of committing such extreme crimes. He even worked at a suicide crisis hotline center, which is where his future biographer Ann Rule met him.

 

I think it depends on how you define "interesting." Reread your post and see if he doesn't sounds uninteresting in that he is so far away from the normal everyday we encounter. Bundy may be evil, but he is very interesting as a maniac. It's morbid, but no less "of interest" to those of us who consider ourselves more balanced.