For those hoping for a TV break from Ryan Murphy after American Horror Story: Cult, I have some bad news: Murphy’s particular brand of television will be back in January. The good news, however, is that it looks pretty damn good.
Building off of the Emmy-winning first season of American Crime Story, which tackled the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, Murphy’s anthology series will return to investigate another ’90s death that rocked the tabloids: the assassination of fashionista Gianni Versace by spree killer Andrew Cunanan.
The first trailer, which debuted Thursday night during the finale of AHS: Cult, shows off the new season’s stellar cast, including Edgar Ramirez as Versace, Darren Criss as Cunanan, Ricky Martin as Versace’s lover Antonio D'Amico, and Penelope Cruz as Versace’s sister, Donatella. Cruz, especially, looks like she’s having the time of her life, sporting a blond wig and a bizarre Italian accent that makes it sound like she’s performing with a spoonful of peanut butter on the roof of her mouth. Plus, she gets to throw out lines like, “Everything you see around us—this house, this company—was his life. I will not allow that man, that nobody, to kill my brother twice.” I’m extremely here for this.
Murphy’s influence is in full effect. Even if you blink, you won’t miss repeated shots of a man getting his face duct-taped mid-coitus, which would also be at home in an opening-credits sequence for American Horror Story. So long as his campy flourishes don’t get in the way of another compelling homicide, however, the Versace season of American Crime Story could be another Emmys darling in 2018.
