Rob Zombie and Bret Easton Ellis team up for Charles Manson project

Rocker/filmmaker Rob Zombie has teamed up with screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis to develop a TV show about cult leader Charles Manson. The American Psycho writer will pen the script for the mini-series, which Zombie will direct.
The show is in the early stages of development, but it will reportedly chronicle the events leading up to the night of the infamous murders in 1969, when seven people, including actress Sharon Tate, were brutally murdered by Manson’s followers.
Zombie tells Variety.com, “I have been obsessed with this insane story since I was a kid, so obviously I jumped at the chance to be involved in this incredible project. After speaking with Bret, I immediately realised that we shared the same vision for this epic madness.”
In 1971, Manson was sentenced to death for his role in masterminding the murders, but his sentence was changed to life behind bars when California state legislators outlawed the death penalty. He is currently serving out his term at the Corcoran State Prison.
This isn’t the first Manson project to be developed – TV movie Helter Skelter, based on the book by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, hit the small screen in 1976, and the documentary film The Six Degrees of Helter Skelter, which explored the murders and the cult leader’s life, was released in 2009.