‘Face/Off’ & ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ Producer David Permut Lines Up True Crime Movie About “Dexter Killer” Mark Twitchell; Sam Hobkinson To Write & Direct

EXCLUSIVE: Face/Off and Hacksaw Ridge producer David Permut has acquired Steve Lillbuen’s true crime book The Devil’s Cinema about Canadian filmmaker Mark Twitchell who was convicted of first degree murder in 2011.

Twitchell is serving a life sentence for the murder of John Brian Altinger, whom he lured into a “kill room” set up in his garage-turned-film-studio. Twitchell bludgeoned and stabbed Altinger, before cutting him apart and then dumping his remains in garbage bags. His arrest and trial attracted substantial media attention since his crimes were inspired by TV series Dexter and lead character Dexter Morgan, prompting some outlets to refer to Twitchell as the “Dexter Killer”.

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The shocking story will be featured this month on an upcoming episode of CBS’s true crime series 48 Hours.

Brit filmmaker Sam Hobkinson, whose credits include true-crime doc Kleptocrats, Netflix factual feature Misha And The Wolves and the same streamer’s mob series Fear City, has been signed to write and direct the narrative feature.

Permut will produce through his Permut Presentations banner along with director of development Alex Astrachan who will co-produce with Keenan Porterfield.

Permut told us: “Sam Hobkinson’s interpretations of true crime stories have had such cinematic flair and style in his extraordinary and critically acclaimed work in documentaries. I think we have found the perfect filmmaker to capture this riveting and cinematic story.”

Hobkinson described the project as “an immersive thriller, that lives in the uneasy world between fact and fiction, a movie that will place the audience in a world that becomes terrifyingly real.”

Permut’s projects in development include the Face/Off sequel at Paramount, Coda director Sian Heder’s project Being Human at Apple, FilmNation title The People Upstairs and Taylor Sheridan series Bass Reeves for Paramount+.

Permut is repped by Pearlman & Tishbi. Great North Artist Management represents author Steve Lillbuen. Sam Hobkinson is repped by ICM.

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