Netflix’s Dahmer Is Becoming A Franchise

Producer Ryan Murphy has signed with Netflix to expand his Monster series with two more series.

By Matthew Creith | Published

Over the last few months, Netflix has been scoring some extra points with viewers by showcasing a string of crime thriller television shows that audiences have been binging as soon as they come out, including The Watcher and Inside Man. One of Netflix’s biggest hits in recent memory is that of Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the true story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer developed by Ryan Murphy as part of his overall deal with the streamer. According to a report by Deadline, Murphy will be adding to his latest Monster franchise after Netflix has ordered two installments to be produced after the success of Dahmer, and the anthology series The Watcher will be getting a surprise second season for Murphy as well.

Ryan Murphy and frequent collaborator Ian Brennan struck gold for Netflix with Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and The Watcher, with the former on track to achieve 1 billion hours viewed by streaming audiences. At this stage, there is no confirmation from Netflix as to what the two additional installments of Monster will consist of, although it should be expected to be in the same true crime genre as Dahmer.

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In Netflix’s words to Deadline, they noted that the two installments will “tell the stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society,” which could possibly be someone like John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer featured prominently towards the end of Dahmer.

Netflix launched Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on its subscription streaming platform on September 21 and the 10-episode season quickly became one of the most-watched new shows of the year for Netflix, which helped usher in the success of Ryan Murphy’s other recent series, The Watcher. Variety reports that Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story starring Evan Peters as the infamous Midwestern serial killer has broken records across streaming platforms since its debut, noting that from September 19 to September 25 it became the 7th most streamed series in a single week in history.

The series follows the life and decades-long killing spree of Wisconsin native Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as painting a picture of his home life with an absent parental unit, his time living with his grandmother, and the victims who died at his hand prior to his imprisonment and subsequent death in the early 1990s.

Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story stars Evan Peters in a murderous role that has seen the Emmy Award-winning actor receive some of the best reviews of his professional career. An alumnus of Ryan Murphy’s other production, American Horror Story, Peters is joined in Dahmer by a fantastic group of actors, including Molly Ringwald, The Shape of Water star Richard Jenkins, Scream Queens actor Niecy Nash, and veteran television performer Michael Learned in the true crime limited series.

As he has done to great success for many of his other productions for FX, Murphy looks to be achieving his goals with Monster on streaming by making it into an anthology series that will illustrate demonic people that have walked among us, and highlight their importance within American history so that people are aware of the dangers that exist before them.