Ted Bundy: Film fans despair as trailers for two new serial killer movies are released in 48 hours

‘When will we be free of Hollywood painting Ted Bundy as this handsome genius?’

Two new film projects based on serial killer Ted Bundy have sparked a backlash after their trailers were released within 48 hours of each other.

Critics have accused filmmakers of bombarding TV and film viewers with various documentaries, series and feature films exploring Bundy’s life and crimes in recent years.

On 8 July, audiences were shown the first trailer for No Man of God, Amber Sealey’s film about the relationship between FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier (Elijah Wood) and Bundy (Luke Kirby).

Just two days later, the trailer was released for Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman, which stars One Tree Hill actor Chad Michael Murray as the serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls during the Seventies.

Earlier this year, Sealey’s film stirred up controversy when she shared an angry email from filmmaker Joe Berlinger, who accused her of mischaracterising his own Bundy films to promote her own.

Berlinger directed Zac Efron in the controversial Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and also directed the Netflix docu-series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.

Amazon Prime released its documentary series Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer last year.

“When will we be free of Hollywood painting Ted Bundy as this handsome genius,” one viewer complained.

One widely shared tweet shared a tongue-in-cheek vision of how much progress the world could make if filmmakers stopped making Bundy movies.

Another pointed out that Bundy was widely believed to enjoy his infamy and Hollywood was therefore giving him “exactly what he wanted”.

Others shared images of the real-life Bundy to point out that he was in fact far less attractive than the Hollywood actors who have portrayed him.

“This man wasn’t attractive or charming, he was manipulative and gross,” they wrote.

Many film and TV fans provided their wishlists of projects filmmakers would work on instead of yet another Bundy project.

“Why do we keep making Ted Bundy movies when we never got a sequel to Jennifer’s Body?” asked Meghan Rienks, referring to the cult horror starring Megan Fox.

American Boogeyman and No Man of God are both scheduled for release later this year.