Warner Bros is set to produce Boston Strangler, a project helmed by actor and filmmaker Casey Affleck, reveals Deadline.com.

Casey Affleck ©AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI

Based on what Deadline.com describes as "the most haunting unsolved serial murder case in U.S. history," Boston Strangler will focus on the hunt for the notorious serial killer who preyed on Bostonian women in the early 1960s. Affleck, the executive producer, also plans to portray one of the cops on the headline-grabbing case, which stoked fear among the population and unsettled the city's politicians.

Chuck Maclean is tasked with penning the script of the film, which is said to be in the same vein as David Fincher's Zodiac and Se7en. Although a suspect admitted to committing the crimes and subsequently died in jail in 1973 at the hands of other prisoners, the case was never really settled as he was considered to be "a pawn in a bigger conspiracy," explains the movie website.

Other filmmakers have tackled the case in the past, including Richard Fleischer in 1968 with The Boston Strangler, starring Henry Fonda and Tony Curtis.