Prime Video Buys Docs On The Kray Twins & The Murder Of Joanna Yeates As Part Of Ten-Title Deal With Sphere Abacus
The life of the notorious Kray twins and the murder of British architect Joanna Yeates are among the latest true crime stories headed to Prime Video.
The Amazon streamer has struck a ten-title deal with London-based distributor Sphere Abacus for rights in the UK and Ireland. All the shows hail from British independent producers.
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The package comprises Woodcut Media productions Krays: London's Gangsters, The Murder of Joanna Yeates, The Crossbow Cannibal, Murder in Concrete, Confessions of a Female Serial Killer and Murdered or Missing?; Yeti Television's Surviving the Tunisia Beach Attack; Wag Entertainment's Murderer Behind the Mask, Middlechild Productions' The Facebook Honeytrap: Catching a Killer and recently announced pick up The Wimbledon Killer, which is from Blink Films.
Single doc The Murder of Joanna Yeates launches first, a week today on April 22. It looks into the case of Yeates, who was found murdered on Christmas Day in 2010 after going missing from her home in Bristol. The case became a grim lesson how media frenzies can go wrong, with Yeates' innocent landlord, Christopher Jefferies, accused of murder and put on trial by the press. A Dutch national living in the building was later jailed for the killing.
Krays: London's Gangsters is a two-parter looking how twin brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray built a criminal empire and turned themslves into underworld legends in London's East End in the 1950s and 1960s. The doc includes never-heard-before audio of the brothers during their later imprisonments and explores the deep and complex relationship between them.
The Crossbow Killer profiles murderer Stephen Griffiths, Murder in Concrete looks into the case of a body discovered in a concrete tomb, Confessions of the Female Serial Killer explores the 10-day murder spree committed by Joanne Dennehy in March 2013 and Murder or Missing? looks at three generations of a family – including an eight-week-old baby – were killed as part of a money laundering scheme.
Surviving the Tunisia Beach Attack is billed as 'the definitive account' of the 2015 massacre of tourists that claimed 38 lives in the less than 40 minutes, Murder Behind the Mask looks into how successful architect and seemingly happy family Graham Dwyer secretly committed a murder, and The Facebook Honeytrap explores how the doting niece of murdered British expat Christine Robinson ensnared her aunt's killer.
As we revealed last month, The Wimbledon Killer looks into the murder of Rachel Nickell, who was stabbed to death in broad daylight on Wimbledon Common. It is one of two docs on the killing, along with Netflix's Wimbledon Common (working title).
'We are extremely proud of the relationships we have built with a wide group of indies throughout the world,' said Will Stapley, Sphere Abacus Head of Acquisitions. 'The producers included in this significant deal are best in class and we are sure that these diverse, high quality true crime titles will strongly appeal to Prime Video subscribers.'
Prime Video has shopped at Sphere Abacus several times in the past for true crime docs, taking a similarly large slate back in January 2024 in one instance.
Canada's Bell Media recently completed a deal to buy Sphere Abacus, as Deadline revealed a few weeks back. Sphere Abacus had previously been sold to Sphere Media, in which Bell holds a minority stake.
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Baldoni's lawyer Freedman addressed the moment on Billy Bush's podcast, calling it 'surprising' that they would joke about such serious matters. At the 2025 Time100 Gala on April 24, where Lively was an honored guest after making its list of most influential people, she spoke about using her voice for good, saying, 'Who and what we stand up for, and what we stay silent about, what we monetize versus what we actually live, matters.' She also hinted at her legal battle, stating, 'I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum.' In a May appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers to promote Another Simple Favor, Lively also spoke about using her voice for change. 'What I can say without getting too much into it is that this year has been full of the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life,' Lively told Meyers. 'And I see so many women around, afraid to speak — especially right now — afraid to share their experiences. And fear is by design. It's what keeps us silent. But I also acknowledge that many people don't have the opportunity to speak. So I do feel fortunate that I've been able to. It's the women who have had the ability to use their voice that's kept me strong and helped me in my belief and my fight for the world to be safer for women and girls.' According to court documents, on June 2, Lively chose to withdraw her emotional distress claims against Baldoni, which came after the director's legal team requested access to Lively's medical records. They argued the records were central to her allegations of emotional distress. Baldoni's team stated that rather than hand over her records, Lively is withdrawing her emotional distress claim, court papers cited by Variety stated. However, Lively wants to withdraw the claims without prejudice, meaning she could refile them later should she change her mind — something that Baldoni's team has pushed back against. Baldoni's team argued that Lively is both refusing to disclose the documents needed to disprove that she suffered emotional distress, and/or that Baldoni and his production company were the cause. However, at the same time, she is maintaining the right to refile the claim "at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed.' As of now, they have reached an impasse. Lively's lawyers refuted that, stating that Baldoni's lawyers are not accurate in Lively refusing to hand over these documents. Instead, they said the team is "intentionally misleading to the Court" and that their "intended audience" for this "false record" was the public, alleging that Baldoni's lawyers are using this as a way to spin negative press about the actress. They stated that they are dropping the emotional distress claim to focus on other charges in court. 'Once again, this is a routine part of the litigation process that is being used as a press stunt. We are doing what trial lawyers do: preparing our case for trial by streamlining and focusing it; they are doing what they do: desperately seeking another tired round of tabloid coverage,' they said, according to TMZ. Lively's team stated that Lively still 'alleged emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.'
