Amazon MGM Studios Wins Fevered Auction For ‘Murder 101’ Based On Podcast; ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Jon Watts Developing To Direct

Mike Fleming Jr
·2-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has landed the package Murder 101, with Jon Watts attached to direct. Watts will also produce alongside Dianne McGunigle and KT Studios’ Stephanie Lydecker. Carrie Lieberman and Conal Byrne will produce for iHeartMedia. This follows a brisk auction last week that had numerous studios in the fray.

The film forms its basis from the true story that unfolds in the KT Studios’ and iHeartPodcasts’ #1 true crime podcast. Set in a small Tennessee town, the podcast told a story about how a group of high school students and their teacher Alex Campbell profiled a local serial killer. It led to his capture.

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Jon Watts most recently directed Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Homecoming Trilogy and directed and executive produced the FX series The Old Man. Upcoming, Watts wrote, directed, and produced Wolfs, starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, set for a fall release from Apple Studios and Sony. He also co-created, directed and executive produced the new Lucasfilm/Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, starring Jude Law.

The project was found by McGunigle, who is married to Watts and was associate producer on the Sundance hit Cop Car, the film that got him into the Spider-Man trilogy that stars Tom Holland. She is prolific in her own right, producing the Searchlight Pictures feature Chevalier, directed by Stephen Williams, and produced the upcoming Watts-directed feature Wolfs. On the small screen she was an executive producer on FX’s Golden Globe and Peabody Award-winning series Atlanta.

Lydecker is the founder and CEO of KT STUDIOS—a true crime factory that converts IP into podcasts, documentaries, and scripted content. Lydecker is the executive producer and creator behind the #1 hit podcasts The Piketon Massacre, Death Island, Murder 101, and the currently airing The Idaho Massacre. Collectively, those three have amassed over 75 million listeners. She also executive produced NBC Universal’s Peacock and Oxygen’s hit documentary, The Pike County Murders: A Family Massacre, which became the network’s most-streamed documentary. Also docus that include Murdered and Missing in Montana, Injustice with Nancy Grace, and Finding Justice. Additional unscripted titles include The Bachelor, Nashville Star, American Idol, and Jersey Shore amongst many others.

Watts is repped by CAA and attorney Gregory Slewett.

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