MGM+ Orders ‘The Wonderland Murders’ True Crime Docuseries Based On Michael Connelly’s Podcast
MGM+ has given the green light to true crime docuseries The Wonderland Murders & The Secret History of Hollywood.
The four-episode series is based on Michael Connelly’s Audible podcast of the same name and will explore the infamous Wonderland murder case in 1980s Los Angeles. Connelly is also the author of the Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer series.
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Alison Ellwood will direct the limited series.
“I love Alison’s work and look forward to working with her and MGM+,” Connelly said in a statement. “The Wonderland murders left an indelible impact on Hollywood, and exploring it with the original detectives and witnesses is exciting, and is going to help us answer many of the questions that are still out there.”
Here’s more about the case:
On July 1, 1981, four people were discovered severely beaten to death in a suburban home in Laurel Canyon on Wonderland Avenue. The murders’ aftermath spans two decades and reaches into present day with details, subplots, and investigative twists that prove the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction. From a bought-off juror to the biggest porn actor of his generation, an alleged corrupt federal agent and a kind of Zelig of Hollywood’s dark underbelly, much about the case remains unresolved, and there are people who got away with murder.
Through in-depth reporting, new developments, rare archival footage, and pivotal testimony from “missing witness” Scott Thorson (best known as Liberace’s boyfriend and the writer of the tell-all Behind the Candelabra), Wonderland Murders will delve into the gruesome crime that has captured the public’s imagination for nearly half a century, and tell a broader story about Los Angeles, the American dream, and when justice does — and doesn’t — work.
The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television’s The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) and Miziker Content, and executive produced by Michael Connelly, Alison Ellwood, Jen Casey and Nick Gilhool, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman for IPC, and Rick Jackson.
“Wonderland Murders joins MGM+’s growing stable of smart, insightful, and thought-provoking true-crime docuseries,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “Michael Connelly is a renowned and tenaciouscrime writer, and Alison Ellwood is a visionary director, so there is no better team to explore one of Hollywood’s most notorious crimes.”
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