LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jennifer Morrison, co-star of Fox's hit medical drama "House," has been tapped to star in the Lifetime original telefilm "The Murder of Princess Diana."

The movie -- produced by Working Title Television, sister company to U.K.-based Working Title Films ("United 93") -- is a fictionalized account of the book by Noel Botham, which theorized that the Paris tunnel car crash that claimed the lives of the Princess of Wales, her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their chauffeur, Henri Paul, was a conspiracy. Morrison will play an American journalist who witnesses the crash and starts her own investigation after becoming suspicious about the official version of the events surrounding Diana's death.

 

"Murder" is filming in Luxembourg and Paris for a targeted premiere in August, timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Diana's death.

 

Lifetime Networks president of entertainment Susanne Daniels said that Diana's death remains viewed as an "unsolved mystery" and noted that a recent BBC poll found that 31 percent of British citizens surveyed believe that her death was not an accident.

"In this movie, we are sharing a dramatic story that will appeal to millions of people's continued fascination with both the facts and speculation surrounding the case," she said.

 

John Strickland is directing the movie from a teleplay by Emma Reeves and Reg Gadney.

"This is the first-ever dramatic portrayal of events around the evening of and immediately after Diana's tragic death," Wright said. "It raises some very difficult questions."

 

In addition to "House," Morrison's credits include a recurring role on "Dawson's Creek" and the films "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Surviving Christmas," "Intersection," "Mall Cop" and "Stir of Echoes."

 

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter