'The Dead Circus': James Marsden To Play Charles Manson

From Easter Bunny to cult leader and murderer -- it's quite a 180 turn for James Marsden.

The star, who took the lead in this weekend's family-friendly box office champion "Hop," has been cast as Charles Manson in the upcoming film "The Dead Circus." The film will take on the case of singer Bobby Fuller, whose death, though ruled a suicide, raised suspicion of foul play and potentially murder.

The story will focus on the allegations that Manson and his Manson Family were behind the murder.

Michael C. Hall will play one of Fuller's managers, while Melissa Leo takes on the role of a former Manson Family member. Hall, of course, is more than familiar with the serial killer genre as the star of Showtime's "Dexter." Leo won an Oscar for her role in "The Fighter" this year.

Marsden recently finished shooting "Nailed," a comedy co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by David O. Russell. He'll also film the thriller "Loft" later this year.

For more, click over to Movieweb.

Comments

[donleo]

04:40 PM on 04/17/2011

Casting Academy Award winner Melissa Leo as a "Manson Family Matriarch" in "The Dead Circus" guantees the success of the film and guarantees another Oscar for Melissa. As Melissa's unpaid press agent who would like to see the media discussing Melissa and "The Dead Circus" 24/7 for the next year, I would urge Melissa to schedule an immediate press conference and announce that she is inviting the real Charles Manson to be her "Oscar date" next year. The studio would then petition Governor Brown to release Manson from prison for the one night. The media will go nuts! They will talk of nothing else. Larry King will come out of retirement to interview Manson and Melissa in Manson's prison cell. Charlie Sheen will announce that "Melissa Leo has tiger blood!' Joan Rivers, Ryan Seacrest and "The Fashion Police" will spend weeks comparing Manson's prison uniform to current fashion trends. The Acadamy will announce in advance that Melissa has unaniomously won the Oscar just in case Manson shows up. People will flock to the theaters to see "The Dead Circus." Ratings for the Oscar Telecast will soar. As Charlie Sheen would say: "DUH WINNING!"

[John Novak]

05:00 PM on 04/08/2011

Bobby Fuller was my birth father. He was more than a one hit wonder, having 3 hits, TV spots and a movie appearance after moving out to LA from El Paso. The Manson's and Sinatra's didn't kill him. Those close to the story have a good idea who did. Read all the available interviews and there's only a few conclusions one can come to. Bobby was an amazing talent and I hope this movie pays him the credit he deserves. Also, suicide was later changed to "accident", however, we know he was murdered.

[JenniferEccles]

06:33 PM on 04/19/2011

I don't know whether to believe you or not. But if what you say is true and you "know" he was murdered, then you must have some idea who did it. That being the case, why don't you insist on an investigation?

[John Novak]

08:54 PM on 05/03/2011

Working on it now!

[jonolennon]

06:46 PM on 04/19/2011

John, thanks for sharing that information. You should be proud of your Dad. His life was cut way too short.

[trmo]

12:54 PM on 04/06/2011

Shouldn't it mention SOMEWHERE in this "news story" that the movie is a fictionalized version of Fuller's death and that the Manson Family not only didn't exist until the summer of 1967 (a full year after Fuller died) but Manson was in federal prison from 1958 until March of 1967? But I guess that would take the ooommmpph outta the "story."

[nicole44]

12:31 PM on 04/06/2011

If they wanted to go for the right look, then Danny Masterson (the guy from that 70's show) would have been a good choice. Looks just like him.

[dmsdzinr]

07:52 AM on 04/06/2011

Shouldn't this role have gone to Charlie Sheen?

[Hug An Ewok]

06:47 AM on 04/06/2011

I like Marsden...
But I see Peter Saarsgard (sp) for that role.

[Vatican Assassin Warlock]

06:30 AM on 04/06/2011

Hilarious miscasting. "I love it. Let's get the clean-cut white guy from the forgettable rom-coms to play Charlie Manson, King of the Freaks. But, you know, a lovable metrosexual version."

[Michael Rappaport]

03:20 AM on 04/06/2011

This is a fascinating career choice and probably not a good one for Marsden. When they made the two-part TV movie "Helter Skelter," Steve Railsback was an amazing Manson, but he was so good as Manson that it basically killed the rest of his career.

[onecorgilover]

09:42 AM on 04/06/2011

absolute truth....that's the only way that I see him now.

[leskataus]

02:18 AM on 04/06/2011

I'm very skeptical of this theory. Charles Manson was in prison at the time Bobby Fuller died. He was serving a 10 year sentence for armed robbery and wouldn't get out until 1967, which was the year after Fuller died. Based on what I've read on Bobby Fuller, his death was very suspicious but Manson wasn't behind it.

[onecorgilover]

09:45 AM on 04/06/2011

Charlie never got his hands soiled, he always had others to do his bidding so it doesn't matter if he was locked up or not. I'm not saying that he is guilty of Bobby's killing, I'm just saying that his being imprisoned doesn't automatically rule him as innocent.

[tippisheadrun]

12:12 AM on 04/06/2011

If there could be one person that I could put a media (documentary, movie, book) embargo on it would be Charles Manson. I don't care what excuse anyone uses, there is absolutely no value in giving this monster the attention he craves. He is evil from the word go and of little historical importance except for all the bizarre and fawning attention he gets from Hollywood and the music industry. Personally, i would be happy if I never heard the man's name again until it is followed by the words "died today in prison hospital after suffering years of rectal cancer that spread into his stomach progressed into cancer of the mouth and finally reached the place where his brain rattled around like a marble in a jack-o-lantern."

[Bruce Forbes]

11:29 PM on 04/05/2011

I watched recently on TV interviews of a few Manson women...they talked about the murder of Fuller, claiming Manson was one of the three who did the deed.

[sleekone]

12:42 AM on 04/18/2011

Difficult to say if they're being forthright or not. It is typical behavior for a follower/accomplise of a Sociopath to take on a surrogate role and do his dirty work for him often to show loyalty or through sheer manipulation on his part. I think it's more likely they played the surrogate committing the murders for him. The world of the Sociopath is dark and void of all logic and the accomplises he chooses are often women as there is an underlying love or admiration for him and or they may pity him and therefore are coming to rescue him from the evil world.

[bart4u]

11:09 PM on 04/05/2011

We do not need a movie about this sick man and his followers. Let's move on and hopefully Hollywood can be more creative with new projects.

[Jokergirl]

11:24 PM on 04/05/2011

I wouldn't count on creativity from Hollywood anytime soon. They are remaking everything and Colin Farrell is in two remakes (not that that's a bad thing, love Colin but...taking ARNOLD's place...no) They're remaking Footloose, Fright Night (Farrell again), Escape from New York.... there's a whole shopping list of remakes coming up.

[tkondaks]

01:34 AM on 04/06/2011

"We" don't need?

Speak for yourself. Better yet, just don't pay your $10.00 at the box office to see it and those of us that want to will.

[PMJ79]

02:32 AM on 04/06/2011

Are you an admirer of Charles Manson?

I'm not.

I hope I never meet an admirer of this man.