Sophia Michaels
Netflix is cashing in on the monumental success of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s limited series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Despite receiving backlash for the apparent mishandling of communications with the families of the killer’s victims, the streaming giant has ordered two more installments of the anthology series torturously platforming “other monstrous figures who have impacted society.”
“Audiences can’t take their eyes off Monster and The Watcher,” Bela Bajaria, Head of Global TV, Netflix, said in a statement, noting Murphy and Brennan’s other series created with Eric Newman, which has been renewed for a second season. “The back-to-back force of these two series is due to Ryan’s distinct original voice which created cultural sensations and we are thrilled to continue telling stories in the Monster and Watcher universes.”
The process of researching and creating The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which stars Evan Peters in the titular role, spanned over three years, during which Murphy says he attempted to contact the victims’ families, refuting claims that they had been completely blindsided by the graphic series.
“Over the course of the three, three and a half years when we were really writing it, working on it, we reached out to 20, around 20 of the victims’ families and friends trying to get input, trying to talk to people,” he said (via The Hollywood Reporter), “and not a single person responded to us in that process.”
“I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it,” Rita Isbell, sister of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, previously told Insider. “They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it. But I’m not money hungry, and that’s what this show is about, Netflix trying to get paid.”
In under two months, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has become the second most popular English TV season on Netflix with more than 934 million view hours. It is expected to reach 1 billion hours in the coming weeks.
