Golden Globe nominee and Masters of Sex and Underworld star Michael Sheen will be making his directorial debut with Green River Killer from his own screenplay, based on the real life murderer “The Green River Killer”.
The film follows the true story of Gary Ridgway, who will be played by Sheen, and detective Tom Jensen. In reality, Jensen spent 20 years hunting down the man who earned the nick name “The Green River Killer” . The killer used Seattle as his hunting ground between 1980 and 1990. The first discovered victim, 16-year-old Wendy Lee Coffield, was found floating in the Green River in July of 1982. Over the next 20 years the discovery of bodies, ages 12-31, in and around the river became an all to frequent occurrence, earning the killer his nick name. He was finally caught in 2001 with the help of DNA evidence and police work. Ridgway was convicted of murdering 49 victims. He struck a deal to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to 480 years. As part of his deal Ridgway took detectives to the locations where he dumped the bodies and told officials in detail how each victim was killed, mostly by strangulation. In all “The Green River Killer” confessed to the murder of 71 women, which he stated all occurred inside King County, Washington.
This is a dark story but one that ultimately finds meaning in the darkness,” Deadline quoted Sheen as saying. “The story of Tom and Gary, and how they are bound together in time, pulled me in from the beginning and wouldn’t let go. I hope that by now bringing it to life on the screen, it can make audiences feel the same way.
Green River Killer will be produced by Dark Horse Entertainment’s Keith Goldberg and Mike Richardson , Sheen, and Dean McKittrick and Ray Mansfield of QC Entertainment.
Michael has written an elegant script which brings his sophisticated vision to subverting the typical serial killer movie,” Mansfield and McKittrick said. “Jensen and Ridgway are terrific roles for both an actor of Michael’s caliber and the actor cast opposite him.
Source: Deadline, The Killer Encyclopedia, crime.about.com
