It seems unlikely that the hearthrob from High School Musical would be cast as one of America's most notorious serial killers, but Zac Efron is actually just right for the part of Ted Bundy.
The serial killer, who confessed to 30 homicides before his execution in 1989, was known both for the gruesome descriptions of his crimes and for his good looks - which helped him lure some of the young women who became his victims.
In fact, Bundy was played by NCIS star Mark Harmon in the 1986 TV movie The Deliberate Stranger.
In Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Efron channels both Bundy's charm and his chilling dark side, and we get a glimpse of both in the film's new trailer.
The film, which is premiering this week at the Sundance Film Festival, seems to focus more on Bundy's court case and his infamy, but there are a few shots that hint at his crimes.
It seems like the movie will also examine Bundy's family life, as Mirror Mirror star Lily Collins plays Elizabeth Kloepfer, Bundy's girlfriend and the woman who would eventually turn him in to the police.
Other stars make appearances in the trailer, including John Malkovich as Bundy's judge Edward Cowart and Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons as the the prosecutor Larry Simpson.
If you can't wait for the film, you can get your true crime fix with a Netflix series about Bundy executive produced by Extremely Wicked's director Joe Berlinger.
Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, digs into police records and interviews with Bundy for a never-before-seen look at his crimes.
As Berlinger told E! News, "Bundy represents for us our most primal, deepest, darkest fear, which is that you don't know the person next to you."
"We want to think that serial killers are easily identifiable, that once you see them you know, 'OK, that guy must be a serial killer,' but people really liked him."
If you can stand to watch it, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile will be in theaters January 26.
[H/T: Entertainment Weekly]
