Prime Video is developing a limited series inspired by the high-profile Karen Read trial, with Elizabeth Banks both starring and executive producing through her Brownstone Productions.
The series, adapted from the Law & Crime and Wondery podcast Karen, comes from Warner Bros. Television and writer-showrunner Justin Noble (The Sex Lives of College Girls, Brooklyn Nine-Nine). A logline describes the project as an exploration of “society’s obsession with true crime, the allure of conspiracy, and the deepening crisis of trust in our institutions.”
Brownstone Productions spearheaded development, teaming with Warner Bros. and Wondery to secure the rights to the podcast before bringing Noble onboard. David E. Kelley will also executive produce alongside Noble, Banks, and other partners from Brownstone, Wondery, and Law & Crime.
The case that inspired the show drew national attention. In June, Karen Read was acquitted on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges tied to the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. She was, however, convicted on a drunk driving charge. The verdict followed two trials, the first ending in mistrial, and became a media spectacle covered across podcasts, news outlets, and documentaries such as A Body in the Snow.
Read and her attorney, Alan Jackson, have separately partnered with LBI Entertainment, producers of Killers of the Flower Moon, to develop another scripted version of her story.
Elizabeth Banks is fresh off Prime Video’s The Better Sister and will next appear in Peacock’s The Miniature Wife.