The shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and his suspected killer Luigi Mangione have already served as the inspiration for several upcoming documentaries.
What’s New?
Since the shooting of Thompson on December 4, filmmakers have been rushing to create projects about the crime and 26-year-old Mangione, whose looks, life, and potential motivations for his alleged involvement have sparked an unexpected online obsession.
The first project comes from Anonymous Content in collaboration with Jigsaw Productions, a documentary company run by director Alex Gibney. Gibney’s previous credits include The Crime of the Century, a 2021 documentary on the American opioid epidemic, as well as Going Clear, the 2015 investigation into the Church of Scientology for which he received seven nominations at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Gibney’s documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, which examined the use of torture by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
As reported by Variety on Monday, the collaboration between Anonymous and Jigsaw will “explore how killers are created, what this killing says about our society and the values we place on who lives and who dies.”
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The second project, also announced on Monday, comes from American-British filmmaker Stephen Morse, whose 2016 true crime documentary Amanda Knox—focusing on the death of British student Meredith Kercher and her American roommate Knox, who was convicted, and later acquitted, of her murder—garnered him two Emmy nominations.
On Monday, Variety also reported that Warner Bros. Discovery network, Investigation Discovery, was in the early stages of making an hour-long documentary on Brian Thompson’s alleged killer, entitled, “Who Is Luigi Mangione?”
The project is set to premier in February, Variety reports, with Investigation Discovery telling the magazine that this will examine “the lingering questions surrounding Mangione’s arrest and explores how a young man of such wealth and privilege could seemingly commit such a heinous crime.”
Newsweek has contacted Anonymous Content, Jigsaw Productions, Stephen Morse and Warner Bros. Discovery for further comment on their upcoming projects.
Why It Matters?
The killing of Thompson, former CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s insurance division, has sparked intense debate about the state of U.S. health care, while the veneration of his alleged assassin is seen by some as a symbol of the widespread frustration many Americans feel over the system.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo
Stephen Morse, in an interview with Deadline, said that his upcoming project was likely to be “memed,” but that his goal was to “foster a deeper understanding” of the Mangione case.
The upcoming projects also align with a broader industry trend centered around the true crime genre, recently highlighted by documentaries and series such as Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
What to Know?
Mangione has been charged with second-degree murder by prosecutors in New York, and faces separate charges including forgery and carrying a gun without a license in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested on December 9.
What People are Saying?
Stephen Morse, filmmaker attached to one of the Mangione documentaries, said in comments to Deadline: “This case is complex and raises important questions about vigilantism, the devastating cost of a privatized healthcare system, and the inevitability of violence when peaceful change is seen as impossible.
“My goal is to present a balanced exploration of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s assassination, showing all sides of the story while respecting the profound loss of life and its impact on everyone involved.”
What Happens Next?
Mangione is set to appear for a preliminary hearing in a Pennsylvania court next week, amid requests to extradite him by New York authorities.
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