The story of Kathleen Peterson’s death is returning to the small screen thanks to HBO Max‘s The Staircase, out May 5. On Tuesday, the streaming service released the true-crime drama series’ first teaser, giving the first glimpse of Colin Firth and Toni Collette in the show.
The Antonio Campos-directed miniseries follows Michael Peterson (Firth), a crime novelist who’s convicted of murdering his wife Kathleen (Collette) by allegedly throwing her down the staircase of their home. The film follows Michael as he defends himself in court, all while filming a mystery docuseries, also titled The Staircase, about what really happened.
“It’s fictional. It’s fabrication,” Firth says in the teaser, which opens with happy footage of Kathleen and Michael Peterson, before taking a twist when she’s found dead at the bottom of the stairs.
“It’s my life on the line and I want to tell my story,” Firth’s character says in the teaser, referring to the documentary. “And I promise you, when we are on the other side of this, things will be better. To la familia.”
The Campos-created series has been in the works since 2019. Harrison Ford was first attached to the series and was set to play Michael. Firth replaced him in 2021. Other actors set to star in the film include Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche, Dane DeHaan, Olivia DeJonge, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tim Guinee, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Sophie Turner.
The Staircase will release its first three episodes on May 5, before releasing a single episode a week through June 9.