Hulu Developing New “Hunting Whitey Bulger” Series With Ben Affleck
Hulu is developing a brand new documentary series about the legendary mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, which will consist of three episodes and be narrated by Ben Affleck.
The series will take a look at the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish mob based in northwest Boston. He went into hiding after his former FBI handler, John Connolly, tipped him off about a pending RICO indictment, and he remained at large for 16 years before being captured in 2011. He was found guilty on thirty-one counts, including racketeering charges, and was found to have been involved in 11 murders. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences and died in 2018 when he was beaten to death in prison.
This documentary is based on new, never-before-seen handwritten letters from prison and key players speaking on camera for the first time to tell the “definitive inside story of the pursuit, capture, and killing” of Bulger.
According to Deadline, the upcoming docuseries is currently going by the working title of “Hunting Whitey Bulger” and will be directed by Zackary Canepari, who previously worked on “Flint Town”. It will be executive-produced by Tom Forman and his Terminal B TV company, who created Netflix’s “Unknown Number: The High School Catfish”.
Also executive producing the show will be David Metzler, Kyle Wheeler, and Claire Read, who is also the showrunner on the project. Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge, who are the authors of “Hunting Whitey: The Inside Story of the Capture” and “Killing of America’s Most Wanted Crime Boss”, also serve as executive producers. Jesse Kerns is also a co-executive producer on the show.
Roger’s Take: Over the years, James “Whitey” Bulger has inspired many films and shows, including “The Departed” and “Black Mass”, which is likely why Ben Affleck is interested in being involved in it. Hulu has been investing in more true crime documentary series, and bringing in a mainstream, well-known narrator can often bring in a larger audience, so no doubt this one should be interesting to watch. As with any new project like this, no Hulu/Disney+ release details have been revealed, but we will likely get that information, much closer to the release date.
What do you think of this new documentary? Let me know on social media!
For the latest Disney+ news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.