Mark Romanek is in talks to direct 'Boston Strangler'.

The 54-year-old filmmaker is negotiating a deal on the thriller which is based on the desperate search for the murderer who terrorised Boston in the early 1960s, sources tell Variety.com.

Casey Affleck is set to appear in the movie as one of the detectives who was part of the Strangler Squad working on the case and will also act as executive producer, while Kevin McCormick's Langley Park will produce.

Actor and screenwriter Chuck Maclean will pen the script after originally pitching the project.

The movie follows an ambitious detective determined to risk everything to bring down the killer, while battling a political cover-up by corrupt politicians and lawyers.

The tale has been dubbed one of the ''most haunting unsolved serial murder stories'' in US history.

Albert DeSalvo was convicted of crimes unrelated to the case, but the public was led to believe he was behind the 13 gruesome murders of women in the Boston area.

There still a belief there was more than one killer acting, and DeSalvo was just a part in a bigger conspiracy.