Matt Smith will play Charles Manson in “Charlie Says,” a film by “American Psycho” director Mary Harron, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
Suki Waterhouse, Hannah Murray, Odessa Young, Marianne Rendon, Cara Gugino, Kaylie Carter and Merritt Wever have also been cast in the drama, which will film in Los Angeles in the spring.
Smith’s recent credits include Netflix series “The Crown” and BBC series “Doctor Who.”
The film will focus on the three young women, played by Murray, Young and Rendon, who were sentenced to death following the grizzly Manson murders. When the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. Wever will play Karlene Faith, a young graduate student who was sent to teach them. One young graduate student, Karlene Faith (Wever), was sent in to teach them — and through her we witness their transformations as they face the reality of their horrific crimes.
Reuniting Mary Harron with writing partner Guinevere Turner (“American Psycho”), the film is written by Turner based on source material from Ed Sanders’ 1971 best-selling book “The Family,” as well as “The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten,” written by Karlene Faith – the prison-appointed social worker from the case who until her passing last year, remained an advocate for Leslie Van Houten, who had been up for parole over twenty times.
Matt Smith and Hannah Murray are repped by UTA and Troika, Odessa Young and Carla Gugino are repped by CAA, Marianne Rendon is repped by Gersh, Merritt Wever is repped by Innovative Artists and Kayli Carter is repped by ICM.
UTA is handling domestic sales rights, and Fortitude International will handle international sales on the film.