The current fascination with ghastly true crime stories has seen nearly every possible true crime case from the last seventy years see some sort of adaptation, and now Boston’s most prolific case – the Boston Strangler – is getting their time in the blacklight with Keira Knightley to star.
Based on the serial killings attributed to Albert DeSalvo throughout early 1960s Boston, the case has been brought back to the limelight thanks to true crime podcasts dissecting the killings. DeSalvo wasn’t truly caught until DNA evidence some fifty years after his crimes, and it has already seen one film adaptation in 1968.
The Boston Strangler case will see an eponymous entry into true crime cinema on Hulu, with two-time Academy Award nominee Knightley in the lead role. Set to be a streaming exclusive, it has now received its official release date. Audiences can expect to see the English actress yet again in a period piece drama from March 17.
Produced by Ridley Scott, it sees Knightley star alongside Carrie Coon, David Dastmalchian, and Chris Cooper in a surprisingly stacked cast for a Hulu original. It isn’t the first attempt to tell this story in celluloid as mentioned, with the 1968 version starring the likes of Tony Curtis, Sally Kellerman, and Henry Fonda.
Curiously, Boston Strangler will also coincide with a tie-in podcast which goes through the true story of the murders which will be released by ABC. The pod will see former Boston Globe journalist Dick Lehr host, with him connected with Loretta McLaughlin (whom Knightley will play in the film) who broke the original story.
The Hulu exclusive will release under the Starz banner in international markets, meaning it’ll be accessible from Disney Plus in several territories.