Antonio Campos to Direct “The Staircase” Remake as Drama Series Starring Colin Firth

Antonio Campos is onto his next (stair)case

The 37-year-old half-Brazilian American director is set to helm the remake of The Staircase, one of the first true-crime documentaries to break out into mainstream culture when it was released in 2004.

Campos’ remake will be a drama limited series for HBO Max with Colin Firth playing Michael Peterson, the man convicted of murdering his wife, Kathleen Peterson.

There previously were rumors that Harrison Ford had been attached to the project.

The Staircase is written and executive-produced by Campos and Cohn, and Campos will direct six of the eight episodes of the show, which is produced by Annapurna Television and HBO Max.

The Staircase started out as a documentary from director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. It told the story of Michael Peterson, a crime novelist accused of killing his wife Kathleen after she is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home, and the 16-year judicial battle that followed. De Lestrade was granted unusual access to the case immediately following Kathleen’s death in 2001 in Durham, NC. Her husband, Michael, a local public figure and successful novelist, quickly became the prime suspect and was convicted.

The original series aired on France’s Canal+ and BBC 4 in the UK as well as on Sundance Channel in the United States.

Lestrade returned to the case a few years later for a three-part follow-up to the case, which aired on Netflix.

“This has been a project I have been working on in one way or another since 2008,” says Campos. “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.”

Campos previously directed the Rebecca Hall-fronted feature Christine.

Angel’s “Push Girls” Gets a Second Season Order…

It looks like you’ll be seeing more of Auti Angel and her inspirational story…

The Sundance Channel has renewed the Latina multi-hyphenate’s reality docuseries Push Girls for a second season.

Auti Angel

“At Sundance Channel, we are supremely proud of this series which has resonated strongly with our audience and critics,” said Sundance Channel GM and EVP Sarah Barnett in a statement. “The extraordinary women of Push Girls impressed us in season one and we are thrilled to move forward with them in season two. At our network, we aim to deliver unscripted programming that demonstrates our commitment to putting the ‘real’ back in ‘reality,’ Push Girls is a brave and honest show and we are thrilled to bring it back for a second season.”

Push Girls, which premiered in June, centers on the lives of five women as they challenge society’s notion of what life is like in a wheelchair.

“I’m grateful to these incredible women who allowed me the opportunity to share their lives and stayed open and honest through the filming process,” executive producer Gay Rosenthal said. “I’m delighted that I get the chance to continue to share their stories with the world.”

Push Girls‘ season one finale airs next week, on August 27.

The second season would bow in 2013.

Angel Starring in The Sundance Channel’s “Push Girls”

She’s the first hip-hop wheelchair singer and dancer… And next month, the oh-so-inspirational Auti Angel will be adding reality television star to her resume.

The Latina multi-hyphenate will be starring in the Sundance Channel’s new original non-fiction series Push Girls, which offers an uncensored look at what it means to be sexy, ambitious and living with paralysis in Hollywood.

Auti Angel

“It’s an honor to have such a platform of this magnitude that we can reach out to so many people and change the stereotypes, the way people think,” says the San Diego-born Angel in a recent interview with The ONE Campaign.

Angel who was raised in Torrance, California, left home at the age of 18 to launch a professional dancing career. She would go on to perform with several renowned hip-hop artists like N.W.A. and Kid ‘n Play, and even branch out into choreography and music.

Auti Angel & Ludacris

“I was J.Lo before J.Lo,” Auti told Disaboom. “I danced with LL Cool J. I went on tour with rap artists and I was about to sign a record deal as part of an all-Latin female hip-hop group. Then, the tragic car accident happened, severing my spinal cord and leaving me wheelchair bound. That was May 3, 1992, a day I will never forget. The record company wasn’t willing to wait, but I told them, ‘I’m still me!’ The group tried to replace me, but they couldn’t and fell apart. I was saddened they didn’t move forward because they still needed to follow their dreams.”

After a difficult seven years that included the tragic loss of her mother to cancer, depression, drug abuse and jail time, Angel rededicated her life to God and began the process of rebuilding her life. She returned to dancing, becoming the first hip-hop dancer to continue her professional career in a wheelchair. She started a hip-hop wheelchair dance group, Colours ‘n’ Motion. In 2003, she performed in Ludacris’ hit video “Stand Up,” and then reprised her work by choreographing a piece, that included her dance partner, for a performance with Ludacris on the Vibe Music Awards.

Along with dancing, Angel is pursuing careers in music and acting. She and her husband of four years, producer/DJ Eric “Stretch Boogie” Rivera, are working on an album together. And, she co-starred in Susan Seidelman’s film Musical Chairs.

But Angel isn’t just pursuing her Hollywood dreams… She established her own mentor-based program, Save a Soul Foundation, to help at-risk youth and young adults by using performing arts as a tool.

“It’s a grassroots mentor-based program for at risk youth. My ultimate goal is to have a youth center that will provide resources, tutoring, while teaching different trades that will apply to their goals in life. It will include at risk kids who are able-bodied and disabled,” said Angel. “Save a Soul grew out of my own experience when I was asked to speak at the Los Angeles Central Juvenile Center. It seemed to set them free to hear me and hear my story. I was moved to reach out to our at risk youth. I could hear God’s voice saying, ‘Save A Soul. Once you save one soul, that soul saves another soul, so it repeats itself.'”

And now you’ll have the chance to witness Angel’s inspirational journey on The Sundance Channel’s Push Girls, which premieres on Monday, June 4 at 10:00 pm ET.