While the last couple of years have been…troubling, to say the least, nothing in the entertainment industry (casting wise) has been as unusual as High School Musical alum Zac Efron being chosen to play former serial killer, brief University of Washington student (go Cougs) and one-time Republican activist Theodore “Ted” Bundy in Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
Expected to open at some point in 2019, the film boasts a cast of familiar cast of names like John Malkovich, Jim Parsons and even Metallica front man James Hetfield as one of the officers who brought Bundy to justice during his period of criminal activity. Though movies like this can often fall prone to miscasting and Efron hasn’t exactly cracked his clean image (Neighbors and its sequel probably helped a bit), he seems to be at least looking the part in these new shots from the set of the film which are currently making their way around online.
Told through the eyes of Bundy’s long-time partner Elizabeth Kloepfer, played by Lily Collins, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile is said to focus on the killer’s charming personality more than the brutal murders that resulted from it. Bundy’s trial was the first to be nationally televised in the United States, too, and was covered by over 250 reporters from five different continents, so his story is a pretty interesting one and we can’t wait to see it brought to life when the film hits theaters.
Until then, though, tell us, what do you think of Zac Efron as Ted Bundy? Will the one-time Disney tween break away from being seen as clean by those who watch him on the screen? Will his casting be another wildly off-base choice akin to the time Emma Stone played a native Hawaiian? Or, will the piece just be forgotten and left to gather obscurity over time? Sound off down below with your thoughts!
