MGM+ Unveils Trailer for the Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood

Check out the trailer HERE
Download first-look images HERE

All episodes are now available via MGM’s ROAR or upon request by emailing MGM+@id-pr.com
 

In this MGM+ Original series, best-selling crime novelist, Michael Connelly (Bosch, The Lincoln Lawyer), takes us on a wild journey into the twisted story of the massacre at Wonderland Avenue on July 1, 1981 – one of Hollywood’s most famous murder cases that has fascinated people for more than 40 years.

This case symbolized an era in Los Angeles – involving sex, drugs, rock n’ roll… and murder. It is the real-life story that inspired Boogie Nights.

In noir-style, verité interviews, Connelly seeks key details about this gruesome quadruple murder with the original detectives, prosecutors, and undercover cops he’d come to know as a young crime beat reporter for The Los Angeles Times.

As the investigation unfolds, weaving in rare archival footage and photos, a colorful cast of characters emerges – famous porn star John Holmes, drug dealers and kingpins, mafiosos, televangelists and multiple celebrities, including Liberace and his boyfriend, enigma Scott Thorson.

In a game of cat-and-mouse, Connelly tries to pin down the facts of Thorson’s many larger-than-life and stranger-than-fiction stories. After four decades, Thorson’s interview may be the last to help distinguish between the crime and the truth.

But do we believe him?

The four-episode docuseries debuts on MGM+ on September 8. It is based on Connelly’s hit

Audible podcast series and directed by Alison Ellwood (San Francisco Sounds, Laurel Canyon). The series is distributed worldwide by Amazon MGM Studios Distribution.

Featuring | Investigative journalist and author Michael Connelly, retired LAPD detective, "Godfather of Crime Writers" Rick Jackson, testimony from "missing witness" Scott Thorson, best known as Liberace’s boyfriend, and more.

Directed by | Alison Ellwood

Executive Produced by | Michael Connelly, Alison Ellwood, Jen Casey and Nick Gilhool, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman for IPC, and Rick Jackson.

Produced by | Sony Pictures Television’s The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) in association with Miziker Entertainment, Hieronymus Pictures, and One Traveler

Episode Descriptions:

Episode 1: The Heat of a Cold Case - September 8, 2024

Crime novelist Michael Connelly revisits one of the most famous murder cases in the history of Los Angeles – the 1981 massacre at Wonderland Avenue – which involved a colorful cast of characters, including a legendary porn star and a drug kingpin.

Episode 2: The Man Who Knew Too Much - September 15, 2024

A key witness in the case, Scott Thorson, shares what he overheard the night of the murders, as well as the details of his extraordinary life with Liberace, Hollywood elite, and the drug underworld of 1980’s Los Angeles.

Episode 3: Up in Smoke - September 22, 2024

Scott Thorson tells of building a drug empire in Hollywood in the 1980s, while the crack epidemic in Los Angeles explodes – all before being discovered as the missing puzzle piece to the Wonderland case almost a decade after the murders.

Episode 4: The Last Man Standing - September 29, 2024

In 1990, Scott Thorson testifies against the alleged mastermind behind the massacre at Wonderland. The trial doesn’t go as planned, and Thorson enters witness protection. What ensues is a stranger-than-fiction series of events… if we believe him.

About The Intellectual Property Corporation

The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), a part of Sony Pictures Television, is an Emmy-winning content creation and production studio based in Van Nuys, California. Founded in 2016 by Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman, IPC develops and produces premium television, film, documentary, commercial and interactive mobile content for global streamers and US broadcast and cable networks. Recent productions include Indian Matchmaking and Night Stalker (Netflix); Secrets of Playboy (A&E); Selena + Restaurant (Food Network); The Climb (Max); We’re Here (HBO); Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes (Discovery); United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper (CNN); Death in the Dorms, The D’Amelio Show, and RapCaviar Presents (Hulu); and The Con (ABC). IPC is a two-time Emmy Award recipient and a Producers Guild Award recipient for its series Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath (A&E).

About MGM+

MGM+, an Amazon company, is a premium linear channel and streaming service delivering a broad lineup of exclusive original series and docuseries, current movie releases, and classic film franchises—all available in the U.S. on TV, on-demand, online, and across devices. MGM+ is a destination for premium content, with original series including crime drama Hotel Cocaine, the Western adventure Billy the Kid, suspense thriller Emperor of Ocean Park, sci-fi horror FROM, Emmy-winning series Godfather of Harlem, and the forthcoming Earth Abides, along with limited series A Spy Among Friends and cinematic dramatic series Rogue Heroes, War of the Worlds, and Beacon 23. The network is also the home of acclaimed docuseries, including the critically acclaimed In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, Emmy-nominated Laurel Canyon, My Life as a Rolling Stone, and NFL Icons, as well as the anticipated docuseries Hollywood Black and The Wonderland Massacre & The Secret History of Hollywood. Premium movies are also available, including Challengers, IF, Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning, The Beekeeper, The Boys in the Boat, American Fiction and Mean Girls.

MGM+ is available nationwide through cable, telco, satellite, digital distribution channels and the MGM+ app. For more information about the current MGM+ lineup, go to www.mgmplus.com or follow us on X,  Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.