'American Crime Story: Katrina' Might Not Get Made as Director Reveals 'Stalled' Status
It has been over a year ago since FX announced the development of "American Crime Story: Katrina" as a follow-up to "American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson." Problems in production apparently hindered the series' progress and it looks like it might never get made at all.
Director Anthony Hemingway told The Hollywood Reporter that production has "stalled" and they are still waiting for word from FX and series creator Ryan Murphy. The show already rounded up a stellar cast who is supposed to be ready for work on the set this year. But there is still no set to report to, nor a filming schedule to follow.
"Nothing has really been done. We haven't started prep on it at all," Hemingway said.
In mid-2016, the development for "American Crime Story: Katrina" had been moving along without any hints of problems. Dennis Quaid was picked to play former President George W. Bush, while Annette Benning and Matthew Broderick would play former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and former Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown, respectively.
Last June, however, FX announced that Katrina will be switched as a third season instead of a second season offering. "American Crime Story: Versace" will take over in its place. The anthology series will be about the murder of Italian designer Gianni Versace.
Reports have blamed the delay on Murphy for putting priority on "Versace" over "Katrina" because the latter was more difficult to mount. Murphy originally wanted to do "American Crime Story: Katrina" because of its socio-civic element.
"Katrina was a [expletive] crime — a crime against a lot of people who didn't have a strong voice, and we're going to treat it as a crime," Murphy said when the show was first revealed. "I want this show to be a socially conscious, socially aware examination of different types of crime around the world."
