Production of ‘American Crime Story: Katrina’ Appears to Have Stalled

FX’s American Crime Story: Katrina appears to have stalled somewhere along the road to its predicted 2018 air date.

The anthology series, which was yet another FX hit for creator Ryan Murphy, had a widely acclaimed first season focusing on trial of O.J. Simpson. The sophomore season promised an even stronger lineup of actors than its predecessor, including Matthew Broderick playing FEMA director Michael D. Brown, Annette Bening as Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, and, most notably, Dennis Quaid as President George W. Bush.

Yet according to The Hollywood Reporter, series director Anthony Hemingway admitted “That just kind of got stalled. We’re all standing by waiting to find out what’s happening. Nothing has really been done. We haven’t started prep on it at all.” When asked if the second season would be happening at all, Hemingway, who directed half of the episodes of the previous season’s American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson, shrugged. “Who knows? It’s all up to Ryan Murphy.”

Part of the problem likely has to do with the fact that in June, FX announced another installment of American Crime Story, Versace, before Katrina had even begun production. This series would star Penelope Cruz, Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez, and Ricky Martin. THR also ran another exclusive about yet another installment, this one focusing on the Monica Lewinsky presidential scandal.

It would seem that there are too many ideas for Murphy to juggle at the moment, and that he may be dabbling with each of them rather than focusing solely on Katrina or any other individual American Crime Story installment. This lack of focus is extremely unfortunate, and rather than Murphy being able to debut multiple installments in the same year (2018), he may end up with nothing. Although in this case, “nothing” should perhaps be amended to “one of his many other projects, such as Feud or American Horror Story.”