Deadline and The Playlist: Jacob Elordi Will Produce and Star in The Executioner's Song

Jacob Elordi will produce and star in a new film of The Executioner's Song for Scott Stuber's United Artists, Deadline reported on November 10. Elordi will play Gary Gilmore, the convicted murderer at the center of Norman Mailer's true crime book.

The Playlist confirmed the news the same day, citing the Deadline report. No director or screenwriter has been named.

The Deal

According to Deadline, United Artists acquired the rights to the 1982 film of The Executioner's Song and set Elordi to lead the new version. The project is based on Mailer's 1979 book, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

Deadline said this will be the first time Elordi works as a hands on producer through development. He has held executive producer credits before. Stuber and Nick Nesbitt will produce for United Artists alongside Elordi, his manager Matt Vioral and producer Sherry Marsh.

Lawrence Schiller, who directed the 1982 film, will serve as an executive producer. Deadline noted that Schiller conducted the extensive interviews with Gilmore, his family and others that became the foundation of Mailer's book. The Playlist added that Tommy Lee Jones played Gilmore in that earlier film.

The Story Behind the Book

Mailer's book follows Gilmore after he was tried and convicted for killing two men in Utah. As Deadline summarized it, Gilmore insisted on being executed and fought the attorneys who tried to keep him alive after his death sentence. He became a national media story and the first person executed in the United States after a four year de facto moratorium on capital punishment.

That is heavy material, and it is a true story with real victims. Any new adaptation will be judged on how it handles them, not only on its lead performance. Deadline described the book as a journey into American violence, media frenzy and loneliness, which gives a sense of the tone the producers are drawing on.

Why This Role Fits the Moment

Elordi's career has moved quickly. Deadline noted that his performance as the creature in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein earned him Critics Choice, Golden Globe, Actors Award and Oscar nominations. He is also known for Euphoria and for the limited series The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which won him an AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama.

His film credits include Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, Emerald Fennell's Saltburn and Wuthering Heights, and Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars. Next, he stars opposite Scarlett Johansson in Ari Aster's A24 thriller Scapegoat, Deadline said.

Taking a producer role on a project like this is a familiar step for an actor with momentum. It gives him a say in who directs, who writes and how the story is told. For a dark true story, that control matters.

Why Editors Picked It Up

This announcement checks several boxes for the trade press. It pairs one of the most talked about young actors in Hollywood with a well known piece of American literature. It also adds to the slate Stuber is building at United Artists, which makes every new acquisition a signal of what kind of films the company wants to make.

There is a side note in the coverage as well. The Playlist observed that Elordi had been mentioned by various outlets as a possible James Bond contender, and that his name later dropped out of trade reports about screen tests. That remains outlet speculation. Nothing in the Deadline report connects this film to Bond.

What Is Confirmed

Confirmed by Deadline: United Artists holds the rights, Elordi will star as Gilmore and produce, and the producing team and Schiller's executive producer role are set. Not yet announced: a director, a writer, a start date for filming or a release window.

The accurate version of this story is short. A Pulitzer Prize winning true crime book is headed back to the screen, and Jacob Elordi is the one carrying it.