‘Devil in Disguise’ Season 2 in the Works at Peacock, Focused on Richard Ramirez, aka ‘The Night Stalker’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Published on Variety.com
As “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” premieres this Thursday, Peacock is already circling the story of another serial killer for its next installment. Variety has learned that the streamer is in discussions with anthology series executive producer Patrick Macmanus to focus the second “Devil in Disguise” season on the notorious “Night Stalker,” aka Richard Ramirez.
Early talks are under way to consider a new “Devil in Disguise” that would tell the story of Ramirez, the serial killer, rapist and burglar who became known as the “Night Stalker” as he terrorized Los Angeles and Southern California between 1984 and 1985. Ramirez is believed to have killed at least 15 people; because his victims varied in age, gender and background, that made Ramirez’s crimes extremely hard to predict.
Ramirez was finally captured in August 1985 and ultimately convicted of all 43 charges for which he was charged; the killer died in prison in 2013 while serving on death row.
Macmanus (“Dr. Death,” “The Girl From Plainville”) would serve as showrunner for the Ramirez edition of “Devil in Disguise,” and also as executive producer, along with his team at Littleton Road Prods. Universal Studio Group’s UCP, where Littleton Road is based, is the studio.
Peacock is already familiar with the story of Ramirez, having previously run the two-part NBC News Studios docuseries “Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes.” Elsewhere on TV, Ramirez was the subject of Netflix’s 2021 documentary “Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer.”
Macmanus and team have been busy at Peacock as of late. Macmanus recently opened his writers room for “Vigilante,” based on the podcast about Texas-based search-and-rescuer Tim Miller, who becomes convinced that he’s finally solved his own daughter’s murder. Peacock also purchased the true crime series “Crush,” about the “Jenny Jones” episode that led to a murder. Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman’s Brownstone Productions and Elliot Page’s Pageboy Productions are producing “Crush” along side Littleton Road and Macmanus.
And then there’s “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy,” which premieres Oct. 16 on Peacock. Macmanus and team are looking at turning “Devil in Disguise” into an anthology franchise, now that the Ramirez story is in the works as a follow-up.
Michael Chernus (“Severance”), Gabriel Luna (“The Last of Us”), James Badge Dale (“Savant”), Michael Angarano (“Oppenheimer”), Chris Sullivan (“This Is Us”) and Marin Ireland (“The Irishman”) star in “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy,” which according to the logline “peels back the twisted layers of Gacy’s life while weaving in heartrending stories of his victims; exploring the grief, guilt, and trauma of their families and friends; and exposing the systemic failures, missed opportunities and societal prejudices that fueled his reign of terror.”
Macmanus is showrunner, writer and executive producer, while exec producers also include Noah Oppenheim (“The Maze Runner”), Sarah Bremner and Liz Cole (“The Thing About Pam”) for NBC News Studios; and Ashley Michel Hoban, Ahmadu Garba and Kelly Funke for Littleton Road Productions.
Macmanus directed Episode 8 of the series; Larysa Kondracki, Ashley Michel Hoban, Maggie Kiley and Bille Woodruff also directed. The show comes from Universal Studio Group’s UCP, where Macmanus and Littleton Road have had an overall deal for the past nine years.
Macmanus is repped by Josh Hornstock at UTA and Evan Corday at Gameplan Media.