The story of Billy Milligan is one of those “believe it or not” stories that haven’t really made it into the spotlight, unless you’re a criminologist or someone who works with criminal law. Billy Milligan was a young man from Ohio charged with several sexual assaults on the Ohio State University campus. When the case reached the courts, Milligan opted for the insanity defense, claiming to be suffering from dissociative identity disorder (informally known as multiple personality disorder). Initially thinking it to be a hoax, the courts were shocked to discover that Milligan was telling the truth and that there have been, in fact, 24 personalities living inside his body.
The story attracted the attention of some writers and academics, but it never became globally known such as other true crime cases. Despite that, as Deadline reports, Apple TV+ has confirmed the production of an anthology series titled The Crowded Room, which is set to focus on the life and illness of Billy Milligan. The series is set to be produced by Apple as the company ordered a 10-episode first season, with plans for future seasons that are going to explore other famous cases of mental illness.
Billy Milligan’s story was supposed to hit the big screens several years ago, as several companies planned on producing a film based on his life. At different points in time, Matthew McConaughey, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, John Cusack, and Leonardo DiCaprio were attached to the role, but a movie was never produced. Apple finally greenlit the project with young Tom Holland (Spider-Man, Uncharted), who has already collaborated on an Apple project we wrote about not long ago, getting the main role.
This is everything we know so far about the show, but seeing how ambitious Apple is about the show, we are looking forward to seeing it as soon as possible!
