Netflix is ready to make more “Making a Murderer.”
The streaming service on Tuesday said it has started production on new episodes of its docuseries about convicted killer Steven Avery that will act as a follow up to Season 1.
The new season, the company said, will revisit the case and be “an in-depth look at the high-stakes post-conviction process” and explore the “emotional toll” on all involved.
“Making a Murderer” debuted in December and quickly gripped holiday binge-watchers.
It told the complicated story of Avery, who is serving a life sentence in Wisconsin after spending 18 years behind bars because of a wrongful conviction in a separate case. The show called into question his current conviction.
The buzz around the series even led some viewers to petition President Obama to pardon Avery and other networks to do their own followup specials months later.
Netflix, however, isn’t keen on letting other networks have the last word. It promises that the new episodes will provide “exclusive access” to Avery’s legal team and “intimate access to the families and characters close to the case.”
Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos will once again headline the project.
In January, four weeks after the series was released, Ricciardi and Demos said they had been following the updates in the case but had yet to get an official order for more episodes. They also said they were exploring the possibility of using the “Making” banner to explore new stories as well.
The decision by the filmmakers to continue following the Avery thread is not unlike the approach Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky took to their three “Paradise Lost” documentaries, which explored the case of the West Memphis Three.
In that case, three teenagers were convicted of the murders of three young boys, but were later released. Their story was told in three films between 1996 and 2011.
The announcement of Season 2 of “Making a Murderer” comes on a tough day for Netflix: The company’s stock fell hard Tuesday after it reported it recently missed subscriber goals.
