Life for fans of director Mark Romanek has been frustrating of late. After announcing himself on the movie scene in 2002 with** One Hour Photo** and making the excellent Never Let Me Go in 2010, he’s since been attached to and ditched more than one prospective film. So news that he’s in talks to make Boston Strangler with Casey Affleck is reason to feel cautiously enthused.
Affleck has been attached to this one from the start, pitching the idea alongside writer Chuck Maclean to Warner Bros. in late 2012. The film will focus on the search for the notorious killer who haunted the Boston area during the 1960s. Described as a Zodiac-style thriller, the script is set to focus on the detectives tasked with tracking down the person responsible. Our hero (Affleck) is an ambitious 'tec willing to risk his career and life battling a political cover-up to find the true killer.
In a time when the authorities were happy to pin the Strangler’s slayings on one man, the officer will try to prove that they’ve got the wrong suspect. If Romanek does indeed agree to make the film and – unlike recent examples** The Wolfman** and Cinderella (for which he was only really on a wish list) – avoids the creative differences pitfalls, this could be something dark, moody and special.