Melanie Lynskey is staying at Paramount+ for her next TV project. The Yellowjackets star will lead and executive produce a limited series currently titled Mushroom Murders, and the drama is based on a notorious 2023 homicide case in Australia.

The story centers on Erin Patterson. In 2023, she served individual beef wellingtons to her estranged in-laws and their relatives at a lunch in her Victoria home. Unbeknownst to her guests, Patterson allegedly prepared the food with highly toxic death cap mushrooms. Three of the guests died.

The limited series is built around the 97 days between that infamous lunch and Patterson’s subsequent arrest. The show does not stop at the meal itself. It follows the stretch of time that followed, which is where the production team sees its gripping true-story hook.

Who is behind the series

The project was created by Anya Beyersdorf, known for Apple Cider Vinegar, along with Daina Reid, whose credits include The Handmaid’s Tale, and Deb Balderstone, who worked on Dustfall. Soapbox Pictures is producing the drama.

Reid will direct all six episodes. Beyersdorf, Dianne Taylor and Belinda Chayko are writing the series. Beyersdorf, Reid, Balderstone and Lynskey will executive produce alongside Xavier Marchand and Paramount+’s Sophia Mogford.

Paramount+ makes its pitch

Beverley McGarvey, president of Network 10 and head of streaming for Paramount Australia, put the project in big-picture terms. She described it as a powerful addition to the company’s growing slate of premium storytelling.

This is an ambitious series that brings a gripping real-life story, that captivated Australia and the world, to the screen with the scale, quality and creative vision audiences expect from Paramount+.

McGarvey also singled out the star. She said the team was thrilled to welcome Melanie Lynskey, whose talent she called integral to the series both on screen and as an executive producer.

Why Lynskey is the draw

Lynskey will next be seen in the final season of Yellowjackets, which premieres Nov. 20 on Paramount+. That timing puts her back on the streamer in a major way within weeks of the new project being announced.

Her recent work spans a wide range. She starred in the Netflix movie Don’t Say Good Luck, and she took a guest role on CBS’ Matlock opposite her husband, Jason Ritter. She also appeared in season one of The Last of Us, which involved a different kind of mushroom murder.

That last credit makes the casting feel almost pointed. Lynskey has already spent time inside a story where fungi were the weapon, and now she is taking on a case that played out in real life and riveted an entire country.

What comes next

The series is still titled Mushroom Murders, and the official description confirms that it will focus on the lunch and the days that followed. Fans of true crime and of Lynskey’s work now have a clear picture of what the project is built to do: take a chilling Australian case and turn it into a limited drama with a major star at its center.

Lynskey is repped by Gersh.