So you’ve finished the second season of Mindhunter, David Fincher’s macabre, tautly wrought Netflix series about the FBI unit that began interviewing and profiling notorious serial killers in the 1970s. Maybe you’re preparing to dive into a slew of other projects to learn more about what you’ve just seen; if so, we have a few suggestions). But what if you want to know what else will be on the market soon? Well, fear not—the true-crime industrial complex is still booming, and there are plenty more projects on the way, including new looks at the Zodiac Killer and the Golden State Killer.
HBO is making a docuseries adaptation of the best-selling book by late true-crime writer Michelle McNamara, who did vital, exhaustive research on the Golden State Killer (a name she coined)—a man who raped, murdered, and burgled dozens of people from 1974 to 1986. Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested and charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in 2018, just a few months after the book was released. HBO’s docuseries is being helmed by Oscar nominee Liz Garbus, and is currently in production. It does not yet have a set release date.
This month, FX announced a four-part series about the man believed to be the Zodiac Killer, based on the book by Gary Stewart and Susan Mustafa. In the book, released in 2014, Stewart writes about his search for his biological father. His search takes a horrifying turn when he learns that his father, Earl Van Best Jr., might have been the notorious serial killer who brutally murdered dozens of people in California in the late 1960s and 1970s. Zodiac, who also taunted police with creepy cryptograms, was never caught or identified. Kief Davidson will direct FX’s take, which does not yet have a release date.
Based on a true story, the upcoming CBS All Access show is an experimental look at a man (Kyle Gallner) who was convicted of killing his own mother. Each episode of the show will revolve around an interrogation, and will apparently be designed so viewers can watch episodes in any order—save for the season finale, which will go live after the other episodes are revealed. The show also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Vincent D’Onofrio.
Forest Whitaker stars in this Epix adaptation of the life and times of Bumpy Johnson, a New York mob boss who had ties to the Genovese crime family. His legacy has haunted other projects, including American Gangster and Shaft—but Godfather of Harlem will dive more fully into his story, painting a portrait of one of the most feared New York criminals of the 1930s. He was arrested multiple times and served out a sentence in Alcatraz. Godfather of Harlem picks up with Johnson returning to Harlem after a prison stint. The first episode, helmed by Oscar winner John Ridley, will premiere on September 29.
Speaking of mob bosses, why not throw in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming adaptation of the nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses? The film, produced and distributed by Netflix, revolves around hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and his order to kill mobster Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino)—though the truth of this crime story has been debated. The film does have a teaser trailer (complete with a first look at de-aged De Niro), but it does not yet have a set release date. It will make its world debut at the New York Film Festival this September.
In 2015, a woman named Zola (real name Aziah Wells) posted a viral Twitter thread about a wild trip she took to Florida with a sex worker named Jessica, which culminated in a kidnapping, a shooting, and a man jumping off a balcony. It was an absorbing tale that instantly got attention from producers and studios, even after the Washington Post debunked a few of the more shocking details. (The shooting, for example, never happened.) Still, Zola‘s story was captivating, and it didn’t take long for A24 to snatch up the rights—handing the reins to filmmaker Janicza Bravo. Taylour Paige stars as the titular storyteller. The cast is rounded out by Riley Keough, Succession’s Nicholas Braun, and Colman Domingo. Production has concluded on the project, but no release date has been set.
Jake Gyllenhaal is getting in on the true-crime game, producing the film Gilded Rage—about the murder of investment banker Thomas Gilbert Sr., who was killed by his son, Thomas Gilbert Jr. It star Bill Skarsgård is set to play Gilbert Jr. The film will be directed by Charlie McDowell and is based on the Vanity Fair article “A Gilded Rage” by Benjamin Wallace, which can be read here.
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