‘The Kennedys -– After Camelot': Katie Holmes returns as Jackie Onassis after JFK’s death

Katie Holmes is coming back as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the “The Kennedys – After Camelot.” This time around, the miniseries will focus on America’s royal family after the tragic death of John F Kennedy.

The Reelz Channel show will be a four-hour long miniseries that will air on two Sundays. Holmes directed the third hour of the show while the rest of the episodes were helmed by Jon Cassar. The latter also directed all eight episodes of “The Kennedys.”

The forthcoming miniseries will pick up where “The Kennedys” left off. The show concluded in 2011 with the assassination of Robert F Kennedy in 1968.

It looks like “The Kennedys – After Camelot” will premiere with Jackie and Ted Kennedy (Matthew Perry) facing new responsibilities and moving forward after the two assassinations in the family. As Ted sets his eyes on the Oval Office, JFK Jr (Brett Donahue) is struggling living up to his late father's legacy.

One of the highlights in the series is the Chappaquiddick scandal in which Senator Kennedy got involved in a fatal car crash in Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts in 1969. The incident left the senator’s 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne dead.

The senator pleaded guilty for leaving the crime scene and received a two-month suspended jail sentence. However, the incident would deeply hurt the senator’s presidential ambition as he failed to score the democratic nomination in the 1980 presidential primary. Incumbent President Jimmy Carter got the nomination.

The story arc of the upcoming series also includes Jackie Kennedy’s marriage to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis (Alexander Siddig) in 1968 until his death in 1975. The teaser promo also shows Jackie O raising her children, Caroline (Ava Preston) and John Jr. The latter’s sudden demise along with wife Carolyn Bessette ( Erica Cox) in a private plane crash in 1999 will also be featured in the miniseries.

The TV adaptation is based on J Randy Taraborrelli’s book titled “After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family—1968 to the Present.” The show also stars Diana Hardcastle (Rose Kennedy), Kristin Booth (Ethel Kennedy) and Kristen Hager (Joan Kennedy).

The new miniseries prequel previously sparked controversy when it was abandoned by History Channel shortly before it was set to hit the air in 2011, Deadline noted. At the time, director Cassar believed some powerful people connected to the Kennedy clan used its influence to prevent History and other US networks from showing the series.

Reelz Channel, however, picked it up. The network’s gamble paid off as "The Kennedys" earned four Emmy awards including the "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie" for Barry Pepper as Robert F Kennedy. Australia’s ABC1 aired "The Kennedys" in May 2011.

The world premiere of the first two hours of the new "The Kennedys – After Camelot" is set on Sunday (April 2) at 9:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. PT on Reelz. The final two hours will air on April 9.

Source: YouTube/ReelzChannel