‘Katrina: American Crime Story’ is delayed, ‘Gianni Versace’ moved up

The bad news: Those who were looking forward to the second American Crime Story installment covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will have to wait a little longer. The good news: While the Katrina-themed series has been delayed, the one chronicling the murder of Gianni Versace, has been pushed up, reports Variety.

FX says The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, will now be the second season of the anthology series, while Katrina: American Crime Story, originally scheduled for season 2, will now air as the third season of the true crime series.

Production on the Versace-themed series began in April and it is scheduled to air on the network sometime in early 2018. It covers the murder of the iconic Italian fashion designer in front of his Miami Beach home by serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who was in the midst of a killing spree. Cunanan murdered at least five people that year and took his own life shortly after murdering Versace. Edgar Ramirez (The Girl on the Train) will play Versace, and Darren Criss (Glee) will portray Cunanan. Penelope Cruz will tackle the role of Gianni’s sister Donatella Versace, and Ricky Martin will play Gianni’s partner, Antonio D’Amico.

Katrina, meanwhile, will not begin production until next year, but Dennis Quaid has already been tapped to play George W. Bush and Annette Bening will play Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana at the time of the devastating hurricane. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster and considered one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the U.S. More than 1,000 lives were lost as a result of the hurricane and floods that it caused.

The inaugural American Crime Story was The People v. O.J. Simpson, which received tremendous accolades, including nine Emmy Awards. A future season has also been confirmed to explore the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky political scandal.

American Crime Story is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, the man behind other small-screen successes like Glee, American Horror Story, and Scream Queens.