See "The Versace Murder Soundtrack" at Amazon.com

Track Listings:

"Chasing Andy
At 60 minutes, this appallingly tasteless soft-core fantasy-exploitation video is an hour too long. Director Phil Tarley follows serial killer Andrew Cunanan (reimagined as a brooding, steroid-heavy muscle man) from San Diego to Chicago to Miami Beach, where he kills Gianni Versace and then himself. The video makes grotesque allusions to Cunanan's gun as a phallus and spins erotic variations on his suicide in a houseboat. Tarley concludes with a Babbitt-like pronouncement that, despite all the unpleasantness, "life goes on" in amoral, narcissistic South Beach. Tell that to the Miglin family. (LB)"

"South Beach Heat", GayVid, found 3/16/99.

---

"Rating:
"Bound to be the most controversial flick of the year, this one left me torn, and I'll tell you why. First off, some of the sex here fucking rocks and is quite eye-opening, most notably a jackoff scene with yummy Latino Tony Reno on a houseboat involving a gun and then sucking the spooge out of the barrel. Now before you go and get all rammy and think "wow" there's a few things to let you in on. First off, it became quite clear after only a few minutes that it's loosely based on Andrew Cunanan and his liaison and eventual murdering of fashion tycoon Gianni Versace. I know - I was saying "huh?" directly to my TV screen, too. Other reviewers have either praised this one to the skies or ripped it to shreds because of its theme. It is a pretty twisted notion for a flick, and it certainly feels like exploitation more than just a little (that boxcover had my hard ass fooled, too.) That said, the sex here ranges from typical WeHo vanilla to wild and intense, including a great close-up shot of docking in the opening, and what can only be described as one of the only corpse-fuckings - albeit implied - I can remember seeing in a porn. ... I guess the jury's still out on this one. I can't give it four stars because of how split I felt after it was over: turned on, yet kind of repulsed at the same time (I mean, was it really necessary to include a shot of Versace's house at the end?) To recap, the sex here is loads of fun and pretty sexy too, especially Alec's scene (he's now bleached blonde, more buff than ever and he let the hair on his chest and tummy grow in - woof!) But the creepy and slightly self-hating themes may really turn a few of you completely off. However, the adventurous and those with a wicked and evil side will be watching it over and over, no question about it."

"His Chasing Andy, the story of Andrew Cunanan, starred porn elite like J.T. Sloan, Dino DiMarco, Paul Morgan and Dax Kelley, but it wasn't well received at the midnight showing, when much of the audience walked out during the screening.

"The next morning, attendees were offered refunds before the movie screened.

"Tarley blames OutFest for describing his endeavor as a linear film, rather than the artsy non-linear one that it is. His hardcore version will be called South Beach Heat and will be quite different."

Price: $8.97    In stock    Starring: Franco Nero, Steven Bauer, Shane Perdue July 15, 1997 - The world is shocked to learn the news that Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace (Franco Nero, "Camelot" and "Die Hard 2") has been tragically and brutally murdered, execution-style, on the steps of his Ocean Drive Villa in Miami Beach, Florida. Shortly thereafter, the authorities, led by FBI special agent John Jacoby (Steven Bauer "Scarface" and "Primal Fear") launch a nationwide manhunt in pursuit of their primary suspect, alleged spree serial killer, Andrew Phillip Cunanan (Shane Perdue), a denizen of the Southern California nightlife. Destiny or design? This action-packed film traces the last steps of both Versace and Cunanan, from the time of Cunanan's farewell dinner in San Diego to the aftermath of both the murder of Versace and Cunanan's alleged boathouse suicide. From video-cds.com, found 1/4/99.

GOODFELLAS: Upstart label Pacific Time Entertainment's owners Curtis Urbina and Sergio Cossa were in attendance at New York's Crystal Apple Awards at Gracie Mansion in Manhattan. The partners ran into film director Martin Scorsese, who complimented the two on their first release, the original soundtrack by composer Claudio Siomentti for the film, The Versace Murder. Pictured (l-r) are Urbina, Cossa and Scorsese.

"Perhaps it's fitting that the first film to depict the murder of fashion king Gianni Versace, who loved to mingle with the stars, should be unveiled at the star-studded Cannes Film Festival.

"Film on Versace murder stirs controversy at Cannes," The Associated Press, May 20, 1998, CNN.com

Buy it now from TLA Vid! (1st available on German video since 4/29/98 at Videoland)

Shane Perdue

"You may not have heard of Shane Perdue, but this spring, prepare to become intimately acquainted with the beefy hunk with the chicken's name. Perdue moved to New York three years ago from his native Texas, where he began acting at the age of 12. Surrounded by music and theater, he was considered highly accomplished in both at a young age. Last spring, Perdue signed with a small commercial agency. In one month, he landed a supporting role in the new play Change at Babylon, which opens on Broadway this spring. In between bookings for modeling in Paris and his recording career, he got the biggest break yet: last August, he won the role of Andrew Cunanan in the feature-length film, The Versace Murder, directed by Menahem Golan, to be released this spring.

Joey Arias: So tell me about playing the part of Andrew Cunanan in The Versace Murder.
Shane Perdue: It was the hardest thing I've ever done -- play someone who was so evil. It was very difficult because it had all just happened. I have to admit it was very strange.

JA: How did you research and develop this character, since it seems like it was all so hush-hush?
SP: I did some research on the Internet and read the FBI reports. Basically I didn't want to know that much about him. I wanted the script to come to me and to input my own creativity, because the script is a Hollywood version of what happened. So I worked with my gut feeling and what the director wanted.

JA: How did you get cast as this deranged character?
SP: Well, a friend of mine whom I share a house with on Fire Island is a hairstylist . . .

JA: Mmm, we all have one! [Both laugh.]
SP: . . . who was talking with one of his clients. And of course the client asked my roommate if he knew someone who looked like Cunanan and could act, 'cause they were auditioning. So I sent my press kit to the director, Menahem Golan, in Miami, and they seemed impressed and flew me down for a screen test. Eventually it was between me and another actor.

JA: Who was that?
SP: Julio Iglesias' son."

"In what must have seemed like a case of deja vu for Miami Beach denizens, shooting has wrapped there on "The Versace Murder" .... Written and directed by Menahem Golan, the ... indie project was filmed in Florida for less than $5 million.

"The designer's death has inspired a second film, based on a book by Vanity Fair special correspondent Maureen Orth. She had been researching a story on Cunanan before Versace died; the story then became a Dell Publishing book, which Warner Bros. has optioned. A scribe has been hired but no script has emerged yet."

"I have a big producer interested in me in Hollywood for his next movie," he says, indulging in some self-promotion. Not living in Hollywood puts him at a disadvantage, he says. "I have to keep sending them new publicity shots because they don't see me around."

Bauer says of Cunanan. In a strange coincidence, Cunanan killed himself eight days after the Versace slaying in a houseboat just across the street from where Bauer lives.

-- "Home Grown Actor Steven Bauer Hopes Versace Murder Movie Will Rekindle Career," Luisa Yanez, 11/18/97, Sun Sentinel

"The producer who made a movie about Andrew Cunanan now wants to do a film about Donald Trump. ... Lupowitz wants to open his Cunanan film in January. Former model Shane Perdue portrays the man accused of killing designer Gianni Versace and says he developed a friendship with Cunanan's mother. `I talk to her about three times a week,' he said. `She still talks about him like he was her little boy.'" -- Reuters/Variety Entertainment Summary, 11/13/97, Pathfinder

Inspired by a New York magazine cover story in August, Island Pictures has made a deal to produce a film, "Trophy Boys," about sweet young male things willing to swap their particular charms for financial stability in the form of fancy clothes, expensive cars and fab vacations.

Island Pix prez Mark Burg said, "What we have in mind is the gay version of 'How to Marry a Millionaire.'" -- "Cunanan's life, death to culminate in 'Trophy Boys'," 11/30/97, Millwaukee Journal Sentinel

Meanwhile, Lupowitz is looking to open his Versace movie in theaters worldwide in January. Model-turned-actor Shane Perdue plays Versace's killer, Andrew Cunanan. Perdue tells us: "During the filming of the murder scene, everybody stayed 5 feet away from me. It was so emotional. People were crying." Perdue himself had nightmares after the scenes in which he dispatched other victims with a hammer and a chain saw. -- "Daily Dish," George Rush Joanna Molloy, 11/12/97, mostNewYork

"Sympathy flowers are no longer piled outside Gianni Versace's Ocean Drive mansion. But 2 1/2 months after his killing, security guards remain at the gate and the curious keep coming. `People are still taking pictures,' says Shane Perdue, the actor portraying Andrew Cunanan in the movie The Versace Murder. `As sick as you might think that is, thatÝ just shows people really want to know what's going on.' In November, the late fashion designer's house will be used for a cocktail reception for the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce. It will be the first event at Casa Casuarina since his death. The mansion will not appear in The Versace Murder, however. Instead, the Vizcaya mansion will be the backdrop for the designer's death." -- "2 1/2 months later, here's update on Versace slaying," Bruce Taylor Seeman, Miami Herald, 10/4/97
Ý

"LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Proclaiming his son's innocence, the father of Andrew Cunanan is making a documentary about the accused spree killer blamed for the murder of celebrity fashion designer Gianni Versace. Modesto 'Pete' Cunanan believes his son, accused in five murders, was the victim of a conspiracy -- 'a deep cover-up.' Accompanied by a Filipino filmmaker, Cunanan came to Los Angeles last week to begin work on the project he says will allow him to 'sleuth around.' The former U.S. Navy chief petty officer who lives outside Manila plans to interview his son's friends and acquaintances. After four earlier killings in three states attributed to Andrew Cunanan, Versace was gunned down outside his Miami Beach home in July. On the run from authorities, the younger Cunanan shot and killed himself July 23 in a houseboat a few miles away from the fashion designer's house. The father also plans to go to court seeking to be named executor of his son's estate. Any money he makes from the film will go toward building 'a church, a chapel or a temple' in his son's memory. 'I knew what those guys would do,' the 74-year-old Cunanan said. 'The FBI would be the heroes and Andrew would be on the run like Dillinger.' Without offering any alternative scenarios to the official depiction of his son as a multiple murderer, he maintains his son was a victim, not a victimizer. 'Hopefully, we'll come up with some plausible explanations when we run the movie,' he said." -- CNN, "Cunanan's father plans documentary on killing spree," Associated Press, 9/20/97Ý

"The actor playing the part of ANDREW CUNANAN in the forthcoming GIANNI VERSACE murder movie has been using some rather unconventional methods to research his role. SHANE PERDUE, who bears a chilling resemblance to Cunanan, found logging on to the Internet the best way of digging up information on the alleged cold-blooded killer's history. Perdue admits, 'I haven't spoken to his family or friends but there is so much information on the Internet, FBI reports, newspapers, his whole life.' Filming is expected to wrap in the next few months and director MENAHEN GOLAN is hoping to release the film next year." -- Jill Stemple, CyberSleaze, 9/18/97

"CUNANAN: THE MOVIE A film producer thinks he knows what police don't: why Andrew Cunanan killed Gianni Versace. It 'really is a strange love story,' said Sam Lupowitz, chairman of Miami Beach's Pan Am Pictures Inc. 'It seems that Andrew Cunanan loved Versace.' Filming began Monday in Fort Lauderdale on Pan Am's 'The Versace Murder,' starring Steven Bauer ('Wiseguy') as an FBI agent, Franco Nero ('Camelot') as Versace and young stage actor Shane Perdue as Cunanan. The film, to be finished by December, is expected to be the first about Cunanan. Others are planned." -- People Online Daily, 9/16/97Ý

"MIAMI (AP) -- When Andrew Cunanan killed himself, he left unexplained the reason why he killed designer Gianni Versace. A film company executive thinks he knows the answer. It ``really is a strange love story,'' said Sam Lupowitz, chairman of Pan Am Pictures Inc., based in Miami Beach. `It seems that Andrew Cunanan loved Versace, wanted to be a Versace.' Cameras started rolling Monday in Fort Lauderdale for `The Versace Murder,' a film about Versace's death in July at the hands of Cunanan, who is blamed for four other killings. Cunanan shot himself to death on a houseboat July 23 in Miami Beach. Stephen Bauer stars in the movie as an FBI agent trailing Cunanan across the country, Franco Nero as Versace and young stage actor Shane Perdue as Cunanan. It is to be finished by December and, if it stays on schedule, will be the first film about Cunanan, though others are planned. `When a movie is made about a news event, there's tremendous public interest,' Lupowitz said. `It's important to be the first movie out because people lose interest.''' -- "Cunanan Film Looks for Answers ," The Washington Post, 9/16/97.Ý

"'Andrew Cunanan: The Motion Picture' is on its way. Warner Bros. and producer Jerry Weintraub are in final negotiations to option the film rights to the killer's story as told by journalist Maureen Orth. Orth, whose article, 'The Killer's Trail,' appears in this month's Vanity Fair, began her research on Cunanan before he allegedly killed fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami Beach last month. She began following Cunanan's story after she read about a 'gay party boy' accused of slaying four people. In the wake of Versace's death, Dell Publishing worked out what is said to be a lucrative book deal with Orth, whose work is expected to be published by Dell's Delacorte Press next spring." -- "Action!" Matthew Gilbert, The San Diego Union Tribune, 8/17/97.Ý
Ý

"MIAMI (AP) -- A feature-length movie about Andrew Cunanan, who was suspected of killing fashion designer Gianni Versace and four other men, is being produced in south Florida with a script written and directed by veteran movie maker Menahem Golan. The production, expected to cost about $5 million, will be filmed at sites across south Florida, including Vizcaya, a Mediterranean-style mansion on Biscayne Bay. The project, which started filming Monday at a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, should be wrapped up by Christmas, said Golan, who has made such movies as 'Delta Force,' several of the 'Death Wish' sequels starring Charles Bronson, and 'Entebbe: Operation Thunderbolt,' which got an Oscar nomination. 'I think it is a very '90s human drama where violence is part of our life and where people like Cunanan can exist,' Golan said of his latest project. 'We have to understand where Cunanan comes from ... young people who are looking to be up there like Versace and cannot make it.' Golan, 67, has made more than 200 movies and directed a fourth of them. The Israeli-born Golan was a pilot and bombardier in Israel's War of Independence in 1948. The movie stars Stephen Bauer as an FBI agent trailing Cunanan across the country, Italian actor Franco Nero as Versace and young stage actor Shane Perdue as Cunanan. Sam Lupowitz, chairman of Pan Am Pictures Inc. in Miami Beach, said the film, called simply 'The Versace Murder,' should be the first out after the sensational July 15 killing of Versace. 'When a movie is made about a news event, there's tremendous public interest,' Lupowitz said. 'It's important to be the first movie out because people lose interest.' 'It seems that Andrew Cunanan loved Versace, wanted to be a Versace,' Lupowitz said. The film picks up Cunanan's story in San Diego before he leaves on a trip police believe was a cross-country killing spree. He was suspected of killing five men -- including Versace -- in Minnesota, Illinois, New Jersey and Florida. Cunanan killed himself July 23 in a Miami Beach houseboat as police combed the area looking for him. While Versace and Cunanan died in Miami Beach, the film makers have not gotten any help from city officials to film in town. Vizcaya is in the city of Miami. ''We have not issued any permits yet,'' said Robert Reboso, film and print coordinator for Miami Beach. 'We are going over their location requests.' While the movie may be the first completed, it is not the only planned film on the murder. Several other projects are in the works, including a possible ABC telefilm. 'We do have a project on this subject in development,' said ABC spokeswoman Anne Riccitelli. 'But we never discuss projects in development.'"Ý --September 16, 1997, "Production company races to put out a Versace movie," WILL LESTER / Associated Press, Minneapolis Star TribuneÝ

"Dino De Laurentiis nearly choked on his breakfast when he read Neal Travis' gossip column in the New York Post. Travis claimed that not only was the famed producer prepping an Andrew Cunanan/Gianni Versace movie project, but that De Laurentiis had approached Keanu Reeves and Brad Pitt to star in the serial-killer tale. De Laurentiis quickly faxed a letter to Travis lambasting the story as "utter fantasy and fabrication." As a friend of Versace's, De Laurentiis said he found the media frenzy surrounding the slaying "extremely distasteful, and (he) would never contemplate a film that seeks to exploit his tragic death. You attack my character and reputation by portraying me as such a crass opportunist in this unfounded story." -- "Action!" Matthew Gilbert, The San Diego Union Tribune, 8/10/97.Ý

"ABC is going to make a movie of Cunanan, the 27-year-old man, loved by his family but accused of being a sexual psychopath. ... 'The intention by all concerned is not to make a headline-exploiting movie. Itís a complicated and tragic story that we want to do justice by,' Avenue Chairman Cary Brokaw said." -- MSNBC, 8/1/97, Associated PressÝ

"The story of murder suspect Andrew Cunanan--whose alleged victims include Gianni Versace--has all the elements of a slick, quick movie-of-the-week: famous names, serial killings, cross-dressing. But don't expect to see the saga competing on the Big Four this fall a la the 'Long Island Lolita' movies. ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox spokespeople say there are no current plans for a Cunanan/Versace movie. Industryites say the story has too many obstacles, dramatically speaking. 'Who is there to root for?' asks Michael O'Hara, who produced Murder in the Heartland, about '50s spree killer Charles Starkweather. 'A gay serial killer? Or Versace, a very complicated man?' More problematic, adds O'Hara, is that 'homosexuality scares the networks.' Hollywood isn't fighting over it either. Producers--including Scott Rudin, Linda Bruckheimer, Arnold Kopelson, and Lynda Obst--recently presented with the proposal for Christopher Mason's upcoming Versace bio, Undressed, either have passed (Obst) or are still mulling it over. -- Kristen Baldwin, with reporting by Frank Swertlow, Entertainment Weekly, 1997Ý

As for the movie, it is to be called, with colossal originality, "Fatal Encounter," and will portray, as Streitfeld and Waxman put it, "the parallel destinies of Cunanan and his last victim, high-flying fashion designer Gianni Versace." What it says here is: Wipe that sneer off your face. Its producer, Sam Lupowitz by name,Ý has got to be the Last Honest Man. "I don't care if everyone inÝ [Miami] thinks I'm an exploitive sleaze," he says. "The curiosity factor has got to be immense."Ý
... Reading Streitfeld and Waxman's account, though, one cannot help being struck by the immense size, ingenuity and tastelessness of the machinery that stands ready to whet and satisfy our appetite for the sensational. At Home Box Office -- itÝ is said to make good original films, but as a non-subscriber I amÝ merrily ignorant of them -- "no fewer than 20 proposals on Cunanan-Versace movies" had been received, according to a spokeswoman, by last week. Editors at publishing houses ranging from the semi-distinguished to the mediocre leafed throughÝ proposals rushed their way by agents and authors, or dreamed up book ideas of their own. Only Hollywood -- scared away, apparently, by delicate marketing questions implicit in theÝ homosexual aspects of the tale -- failed to turn on its engines; and these, as any observer of contemporary life well knows, can be mightier than the Air Force when put into full attack mode. -- 7/28/97, "Sleazing the Day," Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post.