- Luigi Mangione
A documentary about Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of shooting and killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, is already in the works, just days after the 26-year-old was charged with murder over Brian Thompson’s death.
Filmmaker Stephen Robert Morse, known for his work on another high-profile crime documentary, Netflix’s Amanda Knox, is developing the feature, which will examine the fatal shooting of Thompson in New York on December 4 and its aftermath.
“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,” Morse told Deadline on Monday, December 16. “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.”
The two-time Emmy-nominated British-American filmmaker added, “This documentary will be memed,” and said he was hoping to “foster a deeper understanding” of the case through the perspectives of everyone affected, including Mangione himself.
The production team has already put out a call via Instagram for tips relating to the story from anyone familiar with the victim or suspect — or anyone with insight into privatized health insurance in the U.S..
Morse has signed up an impressive crew for the project, including cinematographer Matt Cianfrani, investigative journalist Hannah Ghorashi and filmmaker Eli Eisenstein, per Deadline. A rival project on the murder from Jigsaw Productions has also been announced.
Following a five-day search, Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with murder on December 9, after being found with a ghost gun similar to the one believed to be used by Thompson’s killer, along with a handwritten manifesto about the healthcare industry. He had undergone back surgery in recent years.
The suspect has hired attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent him. In an unexpected coincidence, Friedman Agnifilo is married to another lawyer in the news: Marc Agnifilo, who is involved in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ case.
A spokesperson for Friedman Agnifilo’s firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed to Us Weekly that she was retained to represent Mangione in New York. Friedman Agnifilo will “not be making any statements at this time,” the spokesperson told Us.
Along with the murder charge, Mangione faces four additional charges, including one count of forging a document and criminally possessing a firearm. Mangione is currently being held at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon in Pennsylvania.
Mangione’s story took a strange turn when photos of the suspected killer went viral, with a number of celebrities remarking on his looks, and social media personality Caroline Calloway even claiming that she had slept with him.