Boyd Holbrook is Set To Star in Legendary’s True Crime Drama Series EXECUTIONER — GeekTyrant

Boyd Holbrook (Narcos) is set to star in an upcoming true crime drama being developed by Legendary Television. The series is titled Executioner and it will tell the story of the relationship between novelist Norman Mailer and convicted murderer Jack Henry Abbott. Holbrook will be taking on the role of Abbott.

The story is set in 1981, and the series follows “one of the most scandalous events in New York City history, when Mailer helped get murderer Jack Henry Abbott paroled from prison, leading to Abbott killing again, a nationwide manhunt, and the trial of the century in New York.”

Abbott, “who was serving time in prison for forgery when he stabbed another inmate to death, wrote to Mailer, who was writing about convicted killer Gary Gilmore, alleging that Gilmore was embellishing his experiences in prison. Mailer helped Abbott write In The Belly of the Beast, about life in the prison system. The Executioner’s Song author subsequently endorsed Abbott’s attempts to gain parole. He was released in June 1981 and the next month, he killed a waiter in a restaurant in New York.”

I’m sure that Mailer is really happy with himself about how all that worked out. Sometimes people are stupid. The show was created by Warrior writer Anthony Tambakis, who is also scripting it. Minamata filmmaker Andew Levitas will direct.

Source: Deadline