Last month it was reported that former Doctor Who star Matt Smith was in talks to play notorious cult leader Charles Manson for American Psycho director Mary Harron, and now Variety is reporting that he has officially signed on to the project, titled Charlie Says.
Joining Smith in the film are Suki Waterhouse (The Bad Batch), Hannah Murray (Game of Thrones), Odessa Young (Assassination Nation), Marianne Rendon (Imposters), Carla Gugino (Gerald’s Game), Kayli Carter (Godless) and Merritt Wever (The Walking Dead).
The film, formerly titled The Family, is set to begin shooting this Spring and will focus on Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins and Leslie Van Houten, the three young women who were sentenced to death following the 1969 murders, with their sentences later commuted to life in prison. Murray, Young and Rendon will portray the three, as the film explores their transformations as they face up to the reality of their crimes.
Guinevere Turner has penned the script for the film, which is based upon Ed Sanders’ book The Family and Karlene Faith’s The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten.
Charlie Says is one of two Manson movies in development, with Quentin Tarantino working on his own film, which is slated for release on August 9th 2019, the 50th anniversary of the murder of actress Sharon Tate.
