Voltage Acquires Worldwide Rights To Peyton List ‘Monster’ Prequel ‘American Boogeywoman’

Anthony D'Alessandro
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Voltage Pictures has taken worldwide rights to American Boogeywoman, based on the early life of one of America’s most notorious female serial killers, Aileen Wuornos. Charlize Theron won an Oscar for playing her in the 2003 film Monster.

Currently in postproduction, the film stars Cobra Kai star Peyton List as young Wuornos and is written and directed by horror filmmaker Daniel Farrands (The Haunting of Sharon Tate, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers).

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List is joined by veteran genre actor Tobin Bell (“Jigsaw” from the Saw franchise), Lydia Hearst (The Haunting of Sharon Tate), Nick Vallelonga (Green Book), Swen Temmel (In Time, Backtrace), Meadow Williams (Boss Level, Den of Thieves), and Andrew Biernat (Shadow’s Edge).

Based on Wuornos’ early life in 1976, the film follows America’s most notorious female serial killer in Florida when she marries Lewis Fell, an older wealthy yacht club president only to inflict mayhem within her new family and Florida’s high society. In the film, Hearst plays Jennifer Fell, the daughter of Lewis. The character is part of high society and heiress to her father’s fortune until she befriends Aileen.

Producers of American Boogeywoman are Lucas Jarach (The Haunting of Sharon Tate, The Amityville Murders), Luke Daniels (Under the Silver Lake, No Man’s Land), Daniel Davila (Dead Mine, Knife Fight) and cast members Temmel and Williams.

Jarach negotiated the distribution deal on behalf of the producers with Voltage Pictures President and COO Jonathan Deckter on behalf of the studio.

“We know so little of the early years of Aileen, especially given she was living a very different life to the one we see in Monster,” said List. “Embodying such a deeply complex and divisive character is what drew me to the project, and I can’t wait to bring context to America’s most infamous female serial killer.”

“We’ve been fans of Peyton’s for quite awhile. Not only does she bring an immense amount of great acting ability to the project, she has a built-in powerhouse of fans with a combined 23M social media followers,” commented Deckter. “It’s also great to be working again with the very talented Lucas and Dan on this project and continue to bring unique stories to the screen for all generations and cinephiles alike.”

“Most Americans know about Aileen Wuornos’ infamous killing spree as seen through the Oscar-winning film Monster, but what they don’t know are the details from her early life and the buildup of events that drove her to commit such horrific crimes,” added Jarach. “We look forward to bringing a new perspective to this incredible true story that has so much more to give audiences around the globe.”

List is also known for her portrayal of Emma Ross in the Disney series Bunk’d. The role earned her a nomination at the Kids’ Choice Awards for “Favorite Female TV Star”. Her additional credits include Fox’s 27 Dresses, Remember Me with Robert Pattinson, two installments of Fox’s Diary of a Whimpy Kid franchise, Hulu’s supernatural thriller Light as a Feather and the CBS series Happy Together executive produced by Ben Winston and Harry Styles. She most recently starred as “Tory” in Netflix’s hit Karate Kid spin-off series Cobra Kai.

Farrands made his breakthrough in the industry writing the screenplay for Miramax’s Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers starring Paul Rudd. His additional credits include Blumhouse’s Amityville: The Awakening, The Amityville Murders, Saban Films’ The Haunting of Sharon Tate starring Hilary Duff and Jonathan Bennett and The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson with Mena Suvari.

List is repped by CAA and Gang Tyre Ramer. Farrands is repped by Avenue 220, Culture Creative Entertainment and Zerner Law. Hearst is repped by Buchwald and MPE.

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