A new true crime docuseries is making its way to MGM+. The series is entitled The Wonderland Murders & The Secret History of Hollywood, based on the podcast of the same name by author Michael Connelly, according to Deadline. The audible podcast will be transformed into a four-part series following the Wonderland murder case in Los Angeles during the 1980s.
Connelly is notably the author of both the Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer series. Film producer Alison Ellwood (The Go-Go’s, Magic Trip) will take the directing reigns on this limited series project.
“I love Alison’s work and look forward to working with her and MGM+,” said Connelly 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.”
The story starts on July 1, 1981, when four individuals were found brutally beaten to death in a Laurel Canyon suburban home on Wonderland Avenue. The murder case’s impact would span two decades and is still prominent today, leaving us with investigative twists, numerous details and subplots.
This is a case that proves reality can be stranger than fiction.
Among the facts in this cold case are a bribed juror, a famous porn actor of the eighties, an allegedly corrupt federal agent and a glimpse into Hollywood’s dark side.
Using comprehensive reporting, new crime developments, rare archived footage and testimony from a “missing witness” Scott Thorson (American pianist and singer Liberace’s boyfriend and writer of Behind the Candelabra,) Wonderland Murders will examine this extremely gruesome crime that has found its way into the limelight and has left the public’s imagination running wild for almost half a century. The docuseries will also explore topics concerning Los Angeles, when justice prevails and when it fails us and the American dream.
The series will be produced by Sony Pictures Television’s The Intellectual Property Corporation or IPC and Miziker Content, as well as being executively produced by Connelly and Ellwood.
Some other executive producers on the project are Nick Gilhool (Making It, Time of Death), Eli Holzman (The Seven Five, This Is Paris), Jen Casey (Captive Audience, Extreme Weather), Aaron Saidman (Selena + Chef, True Life) from IPC and Rick Jackson (The Best of Enemies, Queen Bees)
“Wonderland Murders joins MGM+’s growing stable of smart, insightful, and thought-provoking true-crime docuseries,” stated 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.”