FX Orders ‘American Crime Story’ Mini-Series

FX has greenlit a spinoff of its Ryan Murphy-created American Horror Story franchise that will look at true crime stories, the network said Tuesday.

The 10-episode series, American Crime Story, will be directed by Murphy and will focus on the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial that took place in the mid-1990s. The series will be based on the Jeffrey Toobin book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, said network officials.

Murphy will also serve as executive producer of the mini-series, alongside Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson (The Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and Brad Falchuk (Glee, American Horror Story.)

“Time and time again, Ryan Murphy has transformed the medium of television by redefining genres and formats as he did with Nip/Tuck, Glee and the American Horror Story franchise, and we expect the same of American Crime Story,” said FX and FX Productions CEO John Landgraf.  "Scott and Larry have adapted Jeffrey Toobin’s book into a masterful 10-hour piece. I have no doubt that Ryan and his partners, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, and Dante Di Loreto are going to make something very memorable here – and that it will be a spectacular first entry in what is destined to become a series of great true crime-based miniseries."

A new season of American Horror Story, dubbed Freakshow, will launch on Wednesday night.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.