Colin Firth definitely didn't push Toni Collette down The Staircase in trailer for HBO series

We all remember the first time we saw The Staircase, the documentary miniseries about the trial of Michael Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his second wife, Kathleen. Despite running for 16 years, The Staircase is a social experiment in agreement, one of the few times Americans rallied around a similar opinion: that guy killed his wife.

Well, now that the incident has been investigated, litigated, and re-litigated in court and on Netflix, Dateline, Forensic Files, Cold Case, Dateline (again), and My Favorite Murder, HBO’s decided that, sure, let’s re-litigate The Staircase in a star-studded eight-part miniseries. Created by Antonio Campos (Christine, The Devil All The Time), The Staircase now has a trailer, which you can see from the safety of your personal computer.

Oscar-winner Colin Firth stars as Michael Peterson, one of many murderers named Peterson. By taking the role, Firth joins an acting lineage rivaling James Bond. Previous Petersons include Treat Williams, who portrayed Michael in the 2007 Lifetime movie The Staircase Murders; Dean Cain, who played Scott Peterson in The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story; and Rob Lowe, who wore the hell out of a mustache as Drew Peterson in the Lifetime classic ‌Drew Peterson: Untouchable.

The Staircase boasts a cast that would make Marvel jealous, too. Academy Award-nominee Toni Collette plays Kathleen and probably won’t have many scenes with her supporting cast, including Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche, Dane DeHaan, Olivia DeJonge, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tim Guinee, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sophie Turner, Vincent Vermignon, Odessa Young, and Parker Posey.

The Staircase documentary follows the twisted logic of Michael Peterson, who offers overcooked alibis and excuses for his wife’s death, posing as too intelligent and capable to be a wife killer. But, unfortunately, like so many of these killers, Peterson is such a compelling documentary subject, straining credibility without cracking under pressure. And that’s before he started dating the editor of the documentary.

The Staircase runs for eight episodes on HBO Max, with the first three dropping on May 5.