Christina Ricci Returns As Lizzie Borden Again For Lifetime

Didn’t get enough of Christina Ricci as Lizzie Borden the first time? Well, neither did Lifetime because Ricci is gearing up a second time to play the infamous figure.

Instead of a sequel, Ricci will be a part of an exciting miniseries as Lizzie Borden. Ricci as well as actress Clea DuVall will return for the series. DuVall played Lizzie’s sister in the film, and will reprise the role for the series.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Lifetime is calling the miniseries Lizzie Borden: The Fall River Chronicles. While the film focused on the case surrounding the axe murders of her parents, the series will center around Borden’s life after she was acquitted of these charges.

Lifetime will follow how people “mysteriously die” around Borden, which makes detective Charlie Siringo take interest in the case. In the series, the detective will try to prove Borden’s role in the murders.

While she was promoting the role, Ricci said about the real Lizzie, “I’m interested in people who are troubled. Their behavior comes from their neuroses. I loved the idea of living inside someone so villainous and trying to express the person everyone can relate to.”

She continued, “[Lizzie Borden] was guilty, but the jury couldn’t see their way to convict her. Very little is known about what went on in the family, but obviously she was a very troubled girl. You don’t kill your parents if you’re happy.”

In a press release, Lifetime’s executive vice president, Rob Sharenow, said of the upcoming series.

“This series will take viewers further down Lizzie Borden’s dark path, revealing what many people suspected about her mysterious life.”

It’s going to be interesting to see how critics react to the series, given that they weren’t too thrilled with Lifetime’s first stab at the film version. Most had issue with the Lifetime movie making up facts, which is what they’re known to do with their biopics.

The New York Daily News’ critic David Hinckley said of the film, “The movie itself apparently isn’t sure the murders themselves are lurid enough. So it adds a few things that didn’t happen, plus some 21st-century music.”

That said, people were kind to Ricci, who excelled at this role aside from the material she was given. The Chicago Sun-Times said of her performance, “Christina Ricci does a haunting turn as notorious hatchet swinger Lizzie Borden, the young woman accused of butchering her father and stepmother in their Massachusetts home in 1892. It’s a straightforward look at a cold-blooded killer set in a time when society couldn’t accept that women can be just as capable as men when it comes to murder.”

Do you think Lizzie Borden: The Fall River Chronicles will turn out better than Lifetime’s film?

[Image via Lifetime]