Mary Harron and American Psycho screenwriter Guinevere Turner have reunited for Charlie Says, a film primarily centered on the three “Manson Family” women who were sentenced to death in Charles Manson’s infamous murder case.
Via Tracking Board today, “The X-Files” star Annabeth Gish is the latest to join the cast. She’ll play Virginia Carlson, head of the California Institute for Women.
Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”) was recently cast as Manson, with Chace Crawford playing Manson family member Tex Watson and Sosie Bacon as Patricia Krenwinkel.
The cast also includes Suki Waterhouse, along with Hannah Murray, Odessa Young, Marianne Rendon, Carla Gugino, Kaylie Carter and Merritt Wever.
“Charlie Says will focus on the three young women (Murray, Young and Rendon) who were sentenced to death following the infamous murder case of Manson (Smith). When the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. One young graduate student, Karlene Faith (Wever), was sent in to teach them, and through her the film will follow their transformations as they face the reality of their horrific crimes.”
The script by Turner is based on Faith’s nonfiction book The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond The Cult and Ed Sanders’ controversial 1971 novel about the Manson Family murders, The Family.
Jeremy M. Rosen and Kevin Shulman are producing via their Roxwell Films banner, while David Hillary will executive produce alongside Dana Guerin and Michael Guerin.