Harrison Ford Tapped to Star in Adaptation of the Infamous Murder Case From The Staircase

In what is arguably the greatest casting in the history of television, Varietyis reporting that Harrison Ford is set to star as novelist Michael Peterson in Annapurna TV's dramatic adaptation of The Staircase.

This is the big-screen legend's first regular television role -- he's made several appearances in the past. And just as he did in 1993's The Fugitive, Ford will play a man accused of murdering his wife. The difference is the fictional Dr. Richard Kimble was innocent and a jury convicted Peterson of murder before he took a manslaughter plea in a retrial.

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's docuseries The Staircase chronicled Peterson's trial three years after police accused him of killing his second wife, Kathleen, in 2001. The filmmaker updated his work for Netflix's 2018 13-episode version of the documentary of the same name.

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In case you aren't familiar with the story, Peterson claimed that his late wife died after falling down the stairs in their family home. But police suspected a staged crime scene orchestrated to hide the fact that Peterson bludgeoned her to death and attempted to cover it up by saying it was an accident. In 2009, a lawyer presented a theory that Kathleen Peterson died while fighting off an owl attack.

As for the series, Annapurna TV is currently shopping around its adaptation of The Staircase at a number of networks and streaming services, according to Variety. Annapurna TV and Ford's representatives declined to comment. Antonio Campos is reportedly writing the series and executive producing it alongside Annapurna TV.

The Staircase docuseries is streaming on Netflix.