Chad Michael Murray's Ted Bundy Biopic Causes Uproar As Fans Say It Romanticizes Killer

Chad Michael Murray has reportedly signed on for a Ted Bundy biopic—and fans are not happy about it.

The One Tree Hill actor is set to play the elusive serial killer in a feature-length thriller titled American Boogeyman, according to Screen Daily.

Bundy is the infamous killer, who operated between 1974 and 1978, murdering at least 30 women during his crime spree. He is famed for using his charm to gain the trust of his victims before luring them to secluded areas and killing them.

He was arrested in 1978, after previously escaping prison twice, where he remained until his execution in 1989.

Reports of Murray's casting in the film come after a string of features on the killer.

In 2019, Netflix created documentary Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, the same year the feature film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron, was also released.

Then, in 2020, Amazon put out Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer on its streaming platform.

Murray's American Boogeyman will reportedly tell the story of "the elusive and charming killer" and the manhunt that eventually brought him to justice.

News of the film has been met with a backlash on social media, with many accusing the project of romanticizing the killer.

Sharing a grid of images with the faces of Bundy's victims, Twitter user @JeannaLStars wrote: "The ONLY Ted Bundy adjacent movie I am interested in is one which respectfully tells the life stories of these women and girls, humanising them, portraying them as real people who lived & loved, rather than simply victims. And ONLY if their families give permission."

She then listed the names of the women who were killed, urging people to say their names rather than his.

"can we all collectively agree that we don't want anymore films about ted bundy," @infinitelyhrry wrote.

Responding to the tweet, @ftdthugbot added: "and using men that so many find attractive just allows people to romanticize bad people and ser!al k!llers."

"Do we *really* need another movie on Ted Bundy? Like really?," @euphorixa said.

Another user, with the handle @msolurin, said they had been looking at pictures of Bundy for 15 years in a bid to work out why people found him attractive.

@AlexNeedsBraces replied: "Ted Bundy wasn't even that smart either! Can we stop!! Romanticising!!! Serial killers!!!!"

"I'm so tired of Hollywood romanticizing murderers and making films and TV shows about them. It's so disrespectful to the victims and their families," @jelevision posted.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Murray and Voltage Pictures for comment.