Laura Dern to star in limited series based on Epstein investigation

Laura Dern is set to star in the as-of-yet untitled limited series from Sony Pictures TV, based on the Epstein investigation.

The Oscar-winning American actress will portray the Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown in the first scripted take on the Epstein story based on Brown's work in busting open the case and on her 2018 book, Perversion of Injustice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story.

According to Sony the show will be "an explosive account of an investigative reporter exposing the secret plea deal between Epstein and federal prosecutors".

"Drawing from Brown's experience as a groundbreaking reporter for the Miami Herald, the book and the limited series follow her relentless, years-long investigation that identified 80 victims, persuaded key survivors to go on the record, and led to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's arrests," Sony added.

Alongside Laura Dern and Julie K. Brown, writer-director of Don't Look Up and executive producer of HBO's Succession, Adam McKay will serve as an executive producer.

Writer on the 2020 limited series Mrs America, Sharon Hoffman, will write the project as well as co-showrun the show with Eileen Myers.

The series is still seeking a buyer and has yet to go into production.

Brown's reporting was crucial to bringing public attention to Epstein, who was convicted for soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida in 2008.

In 2018, the Miami Herald published Brown's three-part series detailing the relationship between prosecutors, Epstein's lawyers, and the many rich and powerful people who allegedly turned a blind eye to Epstein's abuse of women and girls.

Based on interviews with 60 women who claimed to have been victims of abuse, Brown's trilogy helped bring Epstein's crimes into the public consciousness before he was charged in federal court for sex trafficking minors.

Brown's trilogy also led to the resignation of Donald Trump's then Labour Secretary Alex Acosta, who signed off on a non-prosecution agreement that blocked any federal charges from Epstein's first criminal case.