'The Chris Watts story': Lifetime announces movie based on killer dad a year after he brutally murdered wife and two daughters

'The Chris Watts Story,' a working title for the film, is based on real-life events and taped confessions and 'will chronicle the months that led up to the horrific crime.
PUBLISHED AUG 22, 2019

Lifetime has announced that they will be making a movie about the tragic and gruesome murders of a woman and her two daughters which caught the attention of the entire world purely because of how gruesome and how heinous it was. Shannan Watts and her two young daughters were brutally murdered by her husband Chris Watts. 

The movie which has a working title 'The Chris Watts Story' will be based on real-life events and taped confessions, reports People. It will also document the months that led up to the murders and will also look at trying to put together the killer dad's possible motives behind killing his entire family. The cast includes Sean Kleier who will play the role of Chris, Ashley Williams who will play the role of Shannan, Brooke Smith as FBI agent Tammy Lee. Sony Pictures TV will be producing the film for Lifetime. 

Murderer Chris Watts killed his 15 weeks pregnant wife Shannan  (Facebook)

On August 13, last year, Watts murdered his 15 weeks pregnant wife as well as their two young daughters. He had first strangled Shannan and had taken her body to a remote oil site in the back of his truck. He had also taken his two sleeping daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3 with him in the truck. Before he buried Shannan in a shallow grave, he smothered Celeste who sitting next to Bella. He then dumped his daughter's body inside an oil tank. 

He then turned his attention to Bella who begged him to spare her life. However, he killed her and then stashed her body in another oil tank. At the time of the murders, Watts was having an affair with a colleague of his, Nichol Kessinger. Kessinger had cooperated with the police and was under the impression that Watts was separated when they were dating. Watts who is now 34 pleaded guilty to all the three murders. He is presently serving out five life sentences without the possibility of parole. 

Meaww had previously reported how even a year after the tragedy, friends and family are still mourning the disturbing killings as they remember the vibrant young mother and her two beloved daughters who were snatched from them too soon. The family is set to spend the one-year anniversary in "reflection" of Shanann and the girls, a family source told People.

The 'Chris Watts Story' is all set to premiere in 2020 and will air a PSA to stop violence against women. 

GET THE BIGGEST ENTERTAINMENT STORIES
STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX.

MORE STORIES

The sports drama raked in over $17 million on the weekend in North America upon Christmas release
9 hours ago
Peacock's spy thriller opened to mixed reception from critics and Season 2 is yet to be greenlit
10 hours ago
'Greenland 2: Migration' is one of the much-awaited action-packed disaster flicks in 2026
11 hours ago
'Wednesday' star Percy Hynes White, 'Shaun of the Dead' alum Nick Frost, and 'Rebel Moon' standout Sky Yang are among the film's cast
14 hours ago
'28 Years Later: The Bone Temple', directed by Nia DaCosta, is set to release in theatres on January 16, 2026
15 hours ago
As the creator of the 'Evil Dead' franchise, director Sam Raimi has a long relationship with the horror genre
19 hours ago
The picture expands on the tension teased in the 'Disclosure Day' trailer, showing Blunt making an unsettling sound during a live weather broadcast
19 hours ago
At the time of writing, there is no official word on a potential sequel
2 days ago
The lack of moolah, coupled with critics calling it a damp squib are believed to be major factors
2 days ago
Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone reunite for ‘Bugonia,’ a paranoia-soaked thriller now streaming, where conspiracies and truth blur in unsettling ways.
2 days ago