Am I Supposed To Find Ted Bundy Hot? See Zac Efron In the ‘Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil & Vile’ Trailer

The first trailer for Zac Efron’s highly-anticipated movie “Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil & Vile,” in which he plays infamous serial killer Ted Bundy, finally dropped on Friday—and it’s already causing some major controversy on Twitter. 

Directed by Joe Berlinger, who also directed the new Netflix documentary series “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes,” the movie stars Efron as Bundy and Lily Collins as Elizabeth Kloepfer, his ex-girlfriend. The movie is told from her perspective as she slowly discovers that the man she loves was actually the man who brutally murdered more than 30 women. 

People were quick to react to the new trailer on social media, and some thought that Efron was a spot-on choice for the role. 

“I’m not lying when I say that my heart is beating so fast right now. I am so excited and proud,” one user tweeted. “And shook, Zac looks just like Ted Bundy. I can’t wait to see this movie, I just know how amazing he will be.”

“Zac Efron as Ted Bundy is kina perfect casting cause you can’t believe that he could possibly play a terrifying serial killer in the same way that you couldn’t have looked at Ted Bundy and believed that he *was* a terrifying serial killed,” another wrote. 

“Well it’s a strange feeling to be extremely excited for a serial killer movie,” another tweeted.

But many thought the trailer painted Bundy out to be more of a misunderstood family man than an actual serial killer.

“Love Zac Efron and he looks like he’s doing a good job here but I almost feel like they’re trying to make this film something fun and making Ted Bundy seem misunderstood,” wrote YouTuber user “Make Time Now." “He murdered dozens of innocent young women. That shouldn’t be glorified or made light of.” 

Another person wrote in the comments on YouTube, “Looks like a weird action comedy about a guy who brutally murdered over 30 people. Good job.” 

“Can we not sexualize Ted Bundy? He raped, murdered, and decapitated women and had sex with their dead bodies. Not here for this hyper-sexualized Zac Efron film,” one user tweeted. “I know the youth of twitter will obsess over him, and I’d prefer not to read thirst tweets about a serial murderer.” 

“Trust me I love Zac Efron and the true crime genre as much as the next gal, but guys…..Ted Bundy was a SERIAL KILLER, so don’t start having the hots from him maybe????”

Berlinger defended the movie to Newsweek, calling it a “unique and fresh” take on the typical, serial killer film.

“Really, the film is about betrayal and how a psychopath can be incredibly believable. She believed in his innocence. So that movie unfolds in a way where you don’t see any of the crime until the end when she’s putting it all together,” Berlinger said.

The film premieres at Sundance this weekend.