AceShowbiz - Actor Colin Firth is stepping into the shoes of American novelist and convicted criminal Michael Peterson to star in a TV adaptation exploring the 2001 murder of his wife.

The case, including Peterson's subsequent trial and 2003 conviction, was documented in 2004 true crime series "The Staircase", which examined whether the writer was telling the truth when he claimed his wife, Kathleen, had died at their home after falling down the stairs - even though the medical examiner ruled she had been stabbed to death.

He spent eight years in prison, before he was granted a new trial in 2011, only to accept an Alford plea - a guilty plea in which the defendant maintains their innocence - for the reduced crime of manslaughter, and be sentenced to time served.

The docuseries, directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, was twice updated with developments in the case in 2013 and 2018, and now the mystery will be dramatized with Firth in the lead role.

"The Devil All the Time" director Antonio Campos will shoot six of the eight episodes, which he co-wrote with Maggie Cohn for U.S. streaming service HBO Max and Annapurna Television.

In a statement, Campos says, "This has been a project I have been working on in one way or another since 2008. It's been a long and winding road, but well worth the wait to be able to find partners like HBO Max, Annapurna, co-showrunner Maggie Cohn and the incredible Colin Firth to dramatize such a complex true-life story."

Producers at Annapurna have been developing "The Staircase" adaptation since 2019, with Harrison Ford once attached to star as Peterson, reports TheWrap.com.