Colin Firth will play Michael Peterson in a limited television drama series about The Staircase, for HBO Max. Peterson is a novelist convicted of murdering his second wife, Kathleen Peterson. In 2001, Peterson found his wife at the bottom of a staircase in their home and dialed 911. After a jury found Peterson guilty and after he served eight years in prison, he became a free man due to a new trial, a reduced charge, and an Alford plea. The Peterson case became the subject of a 2004 docuseries, The Staircase. In 2018, three additional episodes were created for Netflix, which also acquired the original episodes.
HBO Max is now turning The Staircase into a drama series with Firth, an Oscar-winning actor, starring as Peterson, according to Deadline. Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn are writers and executive producers on the upcoming series. Campos served as an executive producer for The Sinner, and Cohn served as a writer and producer for American Crime Story. Campos spoke about the project, saying:
This has been a project I have been working on in one way or another since 2008. It’s been a long and winding road, but well worth the wait to be able to find partners like HBO Max, Annapurna, co-showrunner Maggie Cohn and the incredible Colin Firth to dramatize such a complex true-life story.
Since The Staircase’s initial release, the public’s fascination with true crime stories has only increased, with countless documentaries, shows, and podcasts dedicated to the genre. Another highly anticipated series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, is coming to Netflix later this year. With the announcements of a Dahmer series and now a Peterson series, it wouldn’t be surprising to see other cases brought to the screen in a similar manner. While true crime stories are known to generate public interest, many people are opposed to the idea of turning trauma into something for the public to consume. Despite arguments against adaptations of true-life crimes, it seems as though stories like the Peterson case will continue to be told and retold.
Source: Deadline