The true story of the Central Park Five is writ large in the consciousness of America, largely thanks to a 2012 documentary by the peerless Ken Burns. It told the shocking story of the 1989 case of five teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of raping a woman. After they had spent from six to 13 years in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
Now Netflix is preparing to bring the story to its streaming service in drama form.
The Hollywood Reporter reports:
Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga [pictured] and John Leguizamo have been tapped to lead the director’s Central Park Five limited series at Netflix. [Ava] DuVernay will write and direct the four-episode narrative series, which will chronicle the notorious case of five teenagers of color who were convicted of a rape they did not commit.
The series will focus on the five teenagers from Harlem — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise — and will span from the spring of 1989, when each was first questioned about the incident, to 2014 when they were exonerated and a settlement was reached with the city of New York.
The Wire alum Williams will play Bobby McCray, devoted father of accused teen Antron McCray. Farmiga (Bates Motel) will play Elizabeth Lederer, the Manhattan Assistant District Attorney and lead prosecutor on the case. Leguizamo (Bloodline) will play Raymond Santana Sr., the father of accused teen Raymond Santana Jr.
It sounds like another fantastic project for Netflix who is now dominating the world. And just look at that cast! We’ll be keeping an eye for it.
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