New 'Manson Girls' Movie Heads to Lifetime

Charles Manson followers, from left, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle and Leslie Van Houten in a 1970 photo.

LOS ANGELES - One of the most gruesome and sensational murders in U.S. history is coming to Lifetime after the network greenlit plans for a film about the 1969 Charles Manson murders.

The film with the working title "Manson's Lost Girls," is an original movie about a group of teenage girls who fell under the evil spell of Charles Manson and helped commit brutal murders which were meant to start an all-out race war in the U.S. Actor Jeff Ward is set to play the cult-like Manson.

The cast includes MacKenzie Mauzy ("Into The Woods") as Linda Kasabian, Eden Brolin ("I Dream Too Much") as Susan Atkins and Greer Grammer ("Awkward") as Leslie Van Houten. Christian Madsen ("Divergent") plays convicted Manson family member Tex Watson.

The movie tells the story of how on August 8, 1969, Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian were sent by Manson to on Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills to kill everyone at the house. The four did as they were orderd and brutally killed Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, coffee fortune heiress Abigail Folger, actress Sharon Tate and Tate's unborn child.

The next day Manson, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Steve Grogan, Leslie Van Houten, and Linda Kasabian went to the home of Leno and Rosemary Labianca. Manson and Watson tied up the couple and after Manson left, the remaining members brutally stabbed and murdered the LaBiancas. When Manson and the others were arrested the following week on suspicion of auto theft, their involvement in the murders was revealed.