Update: 'My Friend Dahmer,' a Film Based on Local Cartoonist Derf's Graphic Novel, to Receive a Theatrical Release in the Fall

Update: My Friend Dahmer, the film based on the book by local graphic novelist and cartoonist John "Derf" Backderf, made such a splash at the Tribeca festival that Variety magazine now reports it will receive a theatrical release in the fall.

“It’s a serious and audacious attempt to dramatize the inner life of a sick puppy when he wasn’t quite so sick,” writes Variety reviewer Owen Gleiberman.

FilmRise, a film and TV distribution company, will release the movie. Other FilmRise releases include Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Janis: Little Girl Blue and White Girl.

Original Post: Famous for his syndicated strip, "The City,” which ran from 1990 to 2014 in more than 170 weekly publications, local cartoonist John "Derf" Backderf took to publishing graphic novels a few years back.

In My Friend Dahmer, he chronicles his childhood friendship with soon-to-be serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The book became an international bestseller and award winner.

Last year, a movie based on the book filmed in Northeast Ohio. Now, the film will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival that takes place next month in New York.


Director Marc Meyers (How He Fell in Love, Harvest) based the movie on his own screenplay. Ross Lynch (Austin & Ally, Muppets Most Wanted) plays the young Dahmer, and Anne Heche (Donnie Brasco, Six Days Seven Nights) stars as Dahmer's mother.

Entertainment Weekly reports that a few of Dahmer’s former friends came by the set and were struck by how much Lynch, a Disney star, looked like Dahmer. They've even got the photos to prove it.