As the campy, kooky American Horror Story: Freak Show enters its endgame, creator Ryan Murphy is hard at work pulling together not only that hit series’ next installments, but also a spinoff series centered around infamous American crimes. Now, that spinoff, the first season of which will be titled American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson, has found its leads.
Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire) has landed the juicy role of Simpson, the former NFL star-turned-murder defendant, while American Horror Story mainstay Sarah Paulson will play prosecutor Marcia Clark. The series, based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, will be penned by Golden Globe winners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs Larry Flint).
The ten-episode season will explore the controversial, highly publicized murder trial of O.J. Simpson from the perspective of the lawyers, particularly highlighting the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering that involved both the prosecution and the defense. The People V. O.J. Simpson will also explore how “prosecution confidence, defense wiliness and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Murphy, American Horror Story co-creator Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy Productions’ Dante Di Loreto, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will serve as executive-producers on the show, while Murphy will also direct. Production on what’s sure to be an extremely talked-about series is set to kick off in Los Angeles early next year, with plans to have the first season ready in time to pair it with the fifth season of American Horror Story.
Tell us, are you intrigued by American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson? Or do you think the series, which dramatizes a relatively recent case, is a bad idea? Sound off below.