Elizabeth Banks has signed on to star in an upcoming courtroom drama miniseries set around the
Karen Read trial, which is being developed by Prime Video and Warner Bros Television. The show is executive produced by
David E. Kelley, with TV writer and producer
Justin Noble (
"The Sex Lives of College Girls",
"Never Have I Ever",
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine") on board as showrunner. Noble will also pen the series and serve as executive producer.
Based on the Law & Crime and Wondery podcast
"Karen", the series follows the trial that captivated the country. When a Boston police officer is found dead in the snow, all eyes are on his girlfriend, Read. The case fractures a community, with some believing she is guilty of first-degree murder, and others that she's the victim of a sweeping cover-up by state and local law enforcement. This series explores society's obsession with true crime, the allure of conspiracy and the deepening crisis of trust in our institutions.
The
Elizabeth Banks miniseries was being developed even before the trial ended this past spring. Read was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, and was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, ultimately sentenced to serve a year of probation. The 2025 retrial stemmed from a first trial that began in April of last year that concluded in a mistrial due to a
"starkly divided" hung jury.
In a recent interview,
Karen Read stated that she is not at all involved with the
Elizabeth Banks Prime Video limited series:
"I have nothing to do with that; it's not authorized by me in any way. There is more to this story — I won't say another side, I think that the public at large knows this story, they know the truth, but there's a lot more to it than what, I think, Elizabeth Banks knows at this point. I've never spoken to her. I have not blessed this, no".
Read continued that she
"heard through the grapevine" that Banks was interested in portraying her in a project, but heard nothing further from her:
"She knows who our contacts are. Yeah, we're not hard to find."
Read's attorney
Alan Jackson added:
"At the end of the day, this is Karen Read's story to tell; it's not Hollywood's story to make up and to fill in blanks that they want to fill in, to take poetic license, literary license, movie license … It's a little bit of a shame that she was never even consulted, never even contacted."
Banks also will executive produce through her Brownstone banner along with her producing partner
Max Handelman and
Krissy Wall. Kelley will executive produce through his David E. Kelley Productions banner along with
Matt Tinker.
Jen Sargent, Marshall Lewy, Aaron Hart and
Jeni Mulein will executive produce through their Wondery banner, alongside
Rachel Stockman and
Dan Abrams through their Law & Crime company.
