He’s brought to life countless fictional killers in his American Horror Story anthology series, not to mention real-life murderer Andrew Cunanan in another acclaimed show.
And for his next project, television wunderkind Ryan Murphy will be co-producing a limited series about Jeffrey Dahmer, a convicted serial killer who was responsible for the heinous deaths of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
Deadline reports that Netflix has greenlit Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story – a limited series co-created by Murphy, 54, and his longtime collaborator Ian Brennan – as the next project in their high-profile deal with the streaming giant.
For his next project: Television wunderkind Ryan Murphy will be co-producing a limited series about notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. He’s seen at the 2019 Emmy Awards above
The series is still searching for the right actor to portray the infamous murderer, who was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences in 1992 for murders that involved rape, necrophilia, cannibalism and other horrors.
Dahmer was subsequently beaten to death in prison two years after his sentencing, at the age of 34.
Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins is already attached to costar as Dahmer’s father Lionel.
Deadline reports that Murphy’s depiction of Dahmer will mainly focus on his victims, who were primarily people of color, as well as the nearly dozen times in which the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native was almost apprehended but managed to get away due to white privilege, police incompetence and general apathy.
Monster: The infamous murderer was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences in 1992 for 17 murders that involved rape, necrophilia, cannibalism and other horrors; seen in August 1991
Murphy and fellow producers are also in the midst of casting an actress for the lead female role of Glenda Cleveland, a black neighbor living next to Dahmer who repeatedly attempted to alert law enforcement of her suspicions about the man – to no avail.
Cleveland, who died in 2011, had been quoted in later interviews as saying she believed her race was part of the reason why police did not take her pleas seriously.
Five of Dahmer’s 17 murders came AFTER Cleveland notified police – and even the FBI – as to what she called his erratic behavior.
Horrific story: Murphy’s depiction of Dahmer will mainly focus on his victims, who were primarily persons of color, as well as the nearly dozen times in which he was almost apprehended but managed to get away due to white privilege or police incompetence
Jeffery Dahmer’s life and crimes have been fodder for numerous previous filmic incarnations, most recently in the 2017 oddball high school-set indie My Friend Dahmer.
The murderer has also been played by actors Jeremy Renner and Carl Crew, in sensationalized biopics Dahmer in 2002 and 1993’s The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer, respectively.
An updated, culturally relevant look at this story makes sense for Murphy, especially considering his body of work – real-life murders have often figured as the centerpiece to his series, as seen in the first two installments of his anthology series American Crime Story.
Crime story mastermind: An updated, culturally relevant look at this story makes sense for Murphy, especially considering his body of work
Chilling: Real-life murders have often figured as the centerpiece to Murphy’s series, as seen in the first two installments of his anthology series American Crime Story; Darren Criss seen in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, American Crime Story in 2018
Both the first season, titled The People Vs. OJ Simpson, as well as the following season’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace, won multiple awards including several Primetime Emmys.
Dark subject matter is definitely one of the super-producer’s strong suits, whether it be his still-going-strong American Horror Story, which has been renewed through its 13th season in 2023, or his most recent successful Netflix show Ratched.
That series focuses on the origins of one of fiction’s notoriously evil characters, Nurse Ratched from the Oscar-winning film One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (as well as the novel and play upon which it was originally based).
Dark subject matter is definitely one of the super-producer’s strong suits: As seen in his most recent successful Netflix show Ratched; Sarah Paulson seen in that show
The Pose creator is also a master with lighter fare, as seen with some of his other material made for Netflix, such as The Politician.
Murphy’s most recent entry on the streamer as producer was for the remake of The Boys In The Band, which dropped this week.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story will be a 10-episode period series that will span the 1960s, 70s and 80s, ending with Dahmer’s arrest in the early 90s.
Production on the limited series is set to begin in January.