Well, we’ll give this one points for bonkers casting because when you have a movie where James Marsden plays Charles Manson that’s…something. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Deadline reports that James Marsden, Michael Shannon, Michael C. Hall and Melissa Leo are all set to star in “Dead Circus” a film which will tell the tale of a very curious note in music story. Written by Adam Davenport and John Kaye, with the former directing and the film based on the book of the latter, the story will delve into the mysterious death of Bobby Fuller as told via a screenwriter who attempts to solve the mystery of rocker’s death. Never heard of him? That’s ok, you probably heard his 1966 hit song “I Fought The Law (And The Law Won).” Anyway, must as Fuller was on the rise, with ‘Law’ charting on Billboard he was found dead in his car outside of his apartment. His death has remained a mystery, but some speculate that the Manson family was somehow involved and that’s where we get back to the casting.
First up, Marsden is going to play Charles Manson. Really, it’s true. Even better, Leo will play a matriarch within the Manson family which should be amazing, while Hall and Shannon will play Fuller’s managers. The story will be triggered when Leo’s character comes out of hiding five years after the murder and reveals to the screenwriter a cache of snuff films buried out in Death Valley which may hold the key to Fuller’s death. So yeah, this sounds pretty zany, yet compelling.
The production still needs to cast the screenwriter and get financing into place, but should it all come together it will film in Los Angeles. No word on how this may or may not affect Shannon’s chances of joining Zack Snyder‘s “Superman” which he was recently rumored for.
