Bill Pullman playing Alex Murdaugh in Lifetime movie of SC murders. Take a look
Now comes Murdaugh Murders: The Movie.
Lifetime will air a two-part movie version Oct. 14 and 15 starring Bill Pullman as Alex Murdaugh. Pullman has appeared in dozens of movies and is known for varied roles from president to a ghost in such movies as “While You Were Sleeping,” “Independence Day,” Casper” and “Spaceballs.”
Playing Alex’s wife Maggie is Lauren Robek and son Paul is Curtis Tweedie.
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found shot to death on the family’s hunting estate in Colleton County, South Carolina, in 2021. Alex Murdaugh was arrested in their deaths in 2022 and was convicted earlier this year. He is serving two life sentences in protective custody in a South Carolina prison, which has not been identified by the Department of Corrections.
“Even with all of Alex’s influence, he couldn’t prevent the Murdaugh Family’s legacy from being tarnished after Paul was involved in a boating accident that left a young girl dead,” Lifetime said in a news release and reported by Entertainment Weekly. “While Maggie was consumed with what was happening with Paul, Alex was hiding his addiction to opioids and stealing insurance settlements from his own clients to fund his habit and the family’s lavish lifestyle.”
It seems the public can’t get enough of the story of the family of small-town and rich lawyers known to rule over Walterboro and the surrounding communities for generations as solicitors and personal injury lawyers. Then a series of deaths were connected to the family, including their longtime housekeeper who fell on their front brick steps and a teenage friend of Paul’s who died in a boating accident in which Paul was accused of driving. He was awaiting trial when he died.
Then Paul and Maggie were murdered and Alex was implicated in a series of crimes, including stealing from settlements to the housekeeper’s sons and from his clients. He is expected to plead guilty to federal financial crimes on Sept. 21. He also faces state charges.
The Murdaugh story has been told in numerous documentaries, but this is the first fictionalized account. Among the documentaries are “Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty” on Investigation Discovery and Discovery+, “Alex Murdaugh: Death. Deception. Power” on Oxygen, “Dateline: Murdaugh: Power, Privilege & Scandal” on NBC and “The House of Murdaugh” on ABC.
Recently Netflix announced it would add three more episodes to its “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.”
Fox Nation released “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh” in August.
Several books have been written or are in the works as well, including “Fall of the House of Murdaugh,” by Michael DeWitt Jr., editor of the Hampton County Guardian, to be released in November. DeWitt’s book is not associated with the Fox Nation series.
Valerie Bauerlein, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and former reporter for the state, is writing about the murders as well. She’s been on book leave for about a year for the as yet untitled book expected sometime next year from Ballantine/Penguin Random House.
Both have been interviewed as part of several documentaries.
