HBO announced that they have picked up the U.S. rights to two popular independent films: My Friend Dahmer and The Boy Downstairs. The former is an adaptation of John Backderf’s graphic novel which follows a young Jeff Dahmer in high school, played by Ross Lynch.
FilmRise originally produced and released the films and is handling the sale of the properties. Both films premiered in theaters in late 2017 but didn’t stick around for too long.
My Friend Dahmer Alex Wolff stars as Backderf, who was one of Dahmer’s high school friends. Anne Heche plays Dahmer’s mother and Vincent Kartheiser plays one of Dahmer’s early obsessions.
The Boy Downstairs stars Zosia Mamet of Girls‘ fame and Matthew Shear of The Meyerowitz Stories. The film was written and directed by Sophie Brooks. It follows Mamet’s character as her ex-boyfriend moves into the apartment below hers. The films originally premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017 to mixed reviews.
Both films will premiere on HBO later this year.
