1960s Hawaii Crime Drama Series ‘The Islands’ In The Works At Peacock From ‘The Eternals’ Scribes Kaz & Ryan Firpo, Justin Lin & Steven Yeun

Before the popularity of true crime exploded, the 2004 French docuseries “The Staircase” was one of the genre’s crown jewels. Jean-Xavier de Lastrade’s non-fiction chronicle of the mystery surrounding the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson won a Peabody Award in 2005, anticipating the success of podcasts like “Serial” and docuseries like “The Jinx.” Now, the infamous story is coming to HBO Max in a new scripted adaptation from writer/director Antonio Campos (“The Devil All the Time”).

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

Germany’s Leonine Studios has acquired distribution rights to AGC Television’s Australian crime drama Troppo.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” movie series, and shout that magic spell in hopes I can put this sputtering prequel franchise out of its misery. And miserable, it is.Running time: 142 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some fantasy action/violence).

Troppo” will premiere on Amazon Freevee May 20, as one of the first originals to launch on the newly renamed streaming platform.Based on the novel “Crimson Lake” by Cameron Fox, “Troppo” stars Thomas Jane as Ted Conkaffey, an ex-cop accused of a crime that he didn’t commit. Hiding out in the Far North Queensland, he’s recruited by private investigator Amanda Pharrell (Nicole Chamoun) into helping her investigate a bizarre murder case and track down a missing person. In addition to Jane and Chamoun, the cast also includes David Lyons, Yerin Ha, Sun Park, Ling Cooper Tang, Kate Beahan, Cramer Cain, Peta Wilson, Angela Punch McGregor, Damien Garvey, Josh Helman and Radha Mitchell.

EXCLUSIVE: Misha Osherovich, who starred alongside Vince Vaughan in Freaky, has co-created a drama series about the troubled-teen industry.

EXCLUSIVE: The headline-grabbing true story of the 1981 killing of Elana Steinberg at the hands of her husband in Scottsdale, AZ, and the sensational murder trial that followed, is getting the small screen treatment. Murder of a Jewish American Princess, based on Shirley Frondorf’s nonfiction book, Death of a Jewish American Princess: The True Story of a Victim on Trial, is being developed into a true-crime limited series. Murder of a Jewish American Princess hails from journalist/author Cari Lynn, who penned the pilot, and Tom Mazza’s Everywhere Studios, which plans to shop the project to prospective buyers shortly.

Glamorous, starring Fuller House’s Miss Benny, was previously in the works as a pilot for The CW. It has now been handed a series order at Netflix.

Emmys snubs! Peak TV has never seen snubs like this. And the Outstanding Drama Series is going to have a ton of them.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTom Hiddleston is set to star in the Apple limited series “The White Darkness,” Variety has learned.The series is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann. It is inspired by the true life account of Henry Worsley (Hiddleston), a devoted husband and father, a former soldier, a man of deep honor and sacrifice, but also a man deeply obsessed with adventure, manifesting in an epic journey crossing Antarctica on foot.Soo Hugh, who most recently created and showran the Apple series “Pachinko,” will serve as writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner on “The White Darkness.” Mark Heyman will executive produce and co-showrun. “Pachinko” executive producer Theresa Kang-Lowe and Caroline Garity of Blue Marble Pictures will also executive produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Jayden Elijah (School’s Out Forever) rounds out the lead cast of Saint X, joining Victoria Pedretti, Josh Bonzie and West Duchovny in Hulu’s eight-part series from writer Leila Gerstein and director Dee Rees.

Apple TV+ has given a formal green light to Constellation, a conspiracy-based psychological thriller drama series starring Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul). The project was created and written by Peter Harness (The War of the Worlds), with Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad) set to direct the series from Turbine Studios and Haut et Court TV.

Director Justin Lin and Universal are responsible for the latest run of “Fast & Furious” movies, with the filmmaker helping to evolve and keep the franchise on track over the years. “Fast 10” is on the horizon and recent additions Jason Momoa and Daniela Melchior are taking key roles.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJason Momoa is set to star in, write, and executive produce the drama series “Chief of War” for Apple, Variety has learned.The series follows the story of the unification and colonization of Hawaii from an indigenous point of view. Apple has given the show an eight-episode order.Momoa will write alongside Thomas Pa’a Sibbett. Both also serve as executive producers, as will Francis Lawrence, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Erik Holmberg, and Doug Jung.

“TokyoVice“ is an HBO Max companion piece to the Michael Mann-produced TV series “Miami Vice,” which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. That show somehow hasn’t yet been revived beyond a single Mann-directed 2006 feature film, and now “Tokyo Vice” even boasts Mann as both its executive producer and its pilot-episode director.

EXCLUSIVE: Dave Logan, creator of Acorn TV’s Harry Wild and writer on Roald Dahl film To Olivia, is developing a crime drama TV series set in Malta with his Harry Wild co-writer Jo Spain.

Carson Burton Emmy-award winning composer Geoff Zanelli is slated to compose the music for “The First Lady,” premiering on Showtime. The new hour-long anthology drama follows the lives of three of America’s First Ladies and stars Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt.Zanelli served as composer of films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” and “Christopher Robin,” and he won an Emmy award for his work in the Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks miniseries “Into the West.” He also was nominated for HBO’s “The Pacific,” another Spielberg collaboration.“I’ve had the honor of writing music for ‘The Pacific’ and ‘Into The West,’ both shows about distinct times in America’s history, but nothing as intimate as ‘The First Lady,'” Zanelli said.

EXCLUSIVE: Annalise Basso (Snowpiercer) Tracy Campbell (House of Payne), Steven Ogg (Apple TV+’s Emancipation), Jay Huguley (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Denise Smolarek and newcomer Avalon Reign have signed on to star in the crime drama Now I See, from writer-director Carissa Stutzman and Anthem Entertainment.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe scripted series about WWE boss Vince McMahon’s federal steroids trial has brought on Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, Variety has learned.The pair will serve as writers, executive producers, and co-showrunners on the limited series, which is titled “The United States of America vs. Vince McMahon.” It was first announced as being in development back in July 2021.