Melanie Lynskey to Star in Paramount+ Series on the Erin Patterson Case

Melanie Lynskey is set to star in a new limited series about a real and closely followed criminal case. Paramount+ has greenlit the show, called "Mushroom Murders", meaning the streaming service has approved it for production. Variety reported the news on 28 October 2026.

The series is based on Erin Patterson, the Australian woman convicted on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. Those charges followed a meal she prepared that contained toxic death cap mushrooms. The show will focus on the 97 days between that meal and Patterson's arrest.

A limited series is a show told in one fixed run of episodes, rather than one that keeps returning season after season. "Mushroom Murders" will have six episodes. Daina Reid will direct all six.

The series was created by Anya Beyersdorf, Daina Reid and Deb Balderstone, who also serve as executive producers. Executive producers oversee a project from behind the scenes, handling money, creative direction and the overall shape of the show. Beyersdorf will write the series with Dianne Taylor and Belinda Chayko.

Lynskey will both star and take an executive producer credit, so she is involved on both sides of the camera's work. Xavier Marchand also executive produces. Sophia Mogford is executive producing for Paramount+, and Soapbox Pictures will produce the show.

Many people will know Lynskey from her screen work over the years. This role adds a producing credit to that record, and it places her in a true-crime story that has already drawn wide attention in Australia. For the crew, the next stage is the one that matters most: turning a greenlight into a finished run of six episodes.