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Let me say here that I've seen all three major 'Royal Conspiracy'-themed Ripper films - Murder By Decree, the Jack The Ripper miniseries, and From Hell - and I liked them all. None of them have any bearing on reality, of course, but I thought that all three of them were pretty strong films independently of the facts of the case. Your mileage may vary with regards to how they represent the Jack the Ripper case in the popular consciousness, but for my money they were all entertaining and well-made from a technical standpoint.
That said, there seems to be a paucity of material about the case that does not involve the Royal Conspiracy, which is to me a great disappointment. I feel that some of the suspects in the case could definitely benefit from a screen treatment positing their guilt, as a number of them would be just as entertaining.
Take Walter Sickert. Patricia Cornwell's theory is absurd on its face, yet it's hard to criticize her on the grounds that it isn't entertaining. I can easily imagine some intrepid Hollywood screenwriter turning him into an ersatz Hannibal Lecter, living the high-life in fin de siècle Europe by day while slaughtering whores by night. I dare venture that her theory is probably more popular now than that explored in From Hell, so I'm almost surprised that it hasn't already happened.
Alois Szemeredy is another possibility. The man was a virtual jack-of-all-trades: soldier, sailor, explorer, criminal. I can definitely see him making a smooth transition to the silver screen. Along the same lines is Francis Tumblety, whose larger-than-life character is just crying out for a Hollywood interpretation. Both men could probably fit into a "period piece fantasy" ala the recent Wolf Man remake.
Alternatively, if you wanted a straight horror film, then suspects like R.D. Stephenson would probably be the way to go, given that you could play up the whole occult/Satanist angle to a marvelous effect. Alternatively, some of the known murderers who have been suspected - Kelly especially, given the potential of a scene detailing his escape from Broadmoor, but also Bury - have their own strengths as characters.
That said, there seems to be a paucity of material about the case that does not involve the Royal Conspiracy, which is to me a great disappointment. I feel that some of the suspects in the case could definitely benefit from a screen treatment positing their guilt, as a number of them would be just as entertaining.
Take Walter Sickert. Patricia Cornwell's theory is absurd on its face, yet it's hard to criticize her on the grounds that it isn't entertaining. I can easily imagine some intrepid Hollywood screenwriter turning him into an ersatz Hannibal Lecter, living the high-life in fin de siècle Europe by day while slaughtering whores by night. I dare venture that her theory is probably more popular now than that explored in From Hell, so I'm almost surprised that it hasn't already happened.
Alois Szemeredy is another possibility. The man was a virtual jack-of-all-trades: soldier, sailor, explorer, criminal. I can definitely see him making a smooth transition to the silver screen. Along the same lines is Francis Tumblety, whose larger-than-life character is just crying out for a Hollywood interpretation. Both men could probably fit into a "period piece fantasy" ala the recent Wolf Man remake.
Alternatively, if you wanted a straight horror film, then suspects like R.D. Stephenson would probably be the way to go, given that you could play up the whole occult/Satanist angle to a marvelous effect. Alternatively, some of the known murderers who have been suspected - Kelly especially, given the potential of a scene detailing his escape from Broadmoor, but also Bury - have their own strengths as characters.
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