Alex Gibney and Anonymous Content are planning a documentary project on the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, and the larger public conversation about health insurance companies that the crime inspired.
The prolific film-maker’s company, Jigsaw Productions, will partner with Anonymous Content on the as yet untitled project about the dominant US news story of the month, since Thompson was fatally shot in midtown Manhattan on his way to an investor conference on 4 December.
The multi-day manhunt for the alleged shooter – who engraved bullets with the words “delay”, “deny” and “depose”, thought to refer to insurance companies’ tactics to avoid paying claims – culminated in the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on 9 December.
Police say Mangione, a former Ivy League student who reportedly suffered from chronic back pain, was arrested with an unregistered “ghost” gun and a handwritten manifesto decrying the health insurance industry. There is no indication that Mangione was a customer of UnitedHealthcare.
The shooting and arrest prompted polarized reactions, with some hailing Mangione as a folk hero fighting the for-profit US health insurance industry. The crime has sparked larger conversations over US health insurance, the cost of healthcare and routine denial of claims.
The documentary will explore some of these conversations, according to an announcement: “From the crime’s seemingly meticulous execution to the alleged killer’s manifesto and his Ivy League background to the public’s unapologetic apathy towards the victim, the investigative deep dive will ask how killers are created, what this killing says about our society and the values we place on who lives and who dies.”
It is unclear if Gibney will personally direct the project, or whether it will be a feature film or an episodic series.
Gibney, who won an Oscar in 2007 for Taxi to the Dark Side, is no stranger to topical films with a quick turnaround. He has previously explored Russian interference in the 2016 US election, the Trump administration’s bungled response to Covid-19, and the corporate greed fueling the US opioid crisis. He recently released The Bibi Files, an exploration of corruption charges against the longtime Israeli prime minister based on leaked audio tapes.
Gibney and Jigsaw are currently in production on a documentary feature based on Salman Rushdie’s memoir Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder. The company, along with Anonymous Content, is also at work on a film about the billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk, as well as a project on George Orwell.
