It comes after his latest film Minamata, which he wrote and directed, starred Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy and Hiroyuki Sanada. He was released in June 1981 and the next month, he killed a waiter in a restaurant in New York.Įxecutioner was created and written by Tambakis, a short story writer and novelist who is currently working on World War II escape film Victory for Warner Bros and just finished a biopic of Texas guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan. The Executioner’s Song author subsequently endorsed Abbott’s attempts to gain parole. Mailer helped Abbott write In the Belly of the Beast, about life in the prison system. Set in 1981, the series follows one of the most scandalous events in New York City history, when Mailer helped get Abbott paroled from prison, leading to Abbott killing again, a nationwide manhunt, and the trial of the century in New York.Ībbott, who was serving time in prison for forgery when he stabbed another inmate to death, wrote to Mailer, who was writing about convicted killer Gary Gilmore, alleging that Gilmore was embellishing his experiences in prison.
