Just over a week before the release of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, a new batch of stills has now been unveiled, exhibiting Zac Efron in the role of the murderous Ted Bundy.
In Joe Berlinger’s upcoming flick, the story of one of the 20th century’s most notorious serial killers is told largely from the perspective of his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believed that Bundy was guilty in the face of mounting evidence. The role is played by Lily Collins, who can be seen in the gallery below, along with Jim Parsons as Florida Prosecutor Larry Simpson and John Malkovich as Judge Edward D. Cowart.
The rest of the core cast is rounded out by Haley Joel Osment, James Hetfield, Grace Victoria Cox, Kaya Scodelario, Angela Sarafyan, Jeffrey Donovan, Terry Kinney and Dylan Baker.
Even before the film’s Sundance premiere back in January, Extremely Wicked was the subject of a fair amount of controversy for Efron’s “hot” portrayal of a real-life murderer. Both Efron and Berlinger, however, have since gone on record arguing that the star’s charming demeanor is not intended to glorify the killer, but rather serve as an honest reflection of a man who masked his monstrous tendencies behind an appealing façade.
Berlinger in particular has maintained that it was “incredibly brave” of Efron to take his teen heartthrob persona and “turn it on its head.” Indeed, the star has already earned a fair amount of acclaim for his charismatic turn, but you can judge the results for yourself when Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile comes to Netflix on May 3rd. And if one Bundy project wasn’t enough, Berlinger’s documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes is already available on the platform.
