LIFETIME'S "AMANDA KNOX: MURDER ON TRIAL IN ITALY," STARRING HAYDEN PANETTIERE AND MARCIA GAY HARDEN, TO PREMIERE FEBRUARY 21

PASADENA, CA (January 7, 2011) - Hayden Panettiere (Heroes, I Love You, Beth Cooper) and Academy Award?-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden (Into the Wild, Pollock) star in Lifetime Television's Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy. The original movie is based on the international headline-grabbing story of the now infamous American exchange student accused by Italian authorities of brutally killing her roommate. Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy will premiere on Monday, February 21, at 9PM ET/PT.

Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy poses the question of whether Knox (Panettiere), the Seattle honors student accused of murdering her college roommate Meredith Kercher (Amanda Fernando Stevens) in 2007 with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito (Paolo Romio) and acquaintance Rudy Guede (Djirbi Kebe), actually committed the crime or was herself a victim. Referred to as "Foxy Knoxy" by her Italian prosecutor, Guiliani Mignini (Vincent Riotta), and the press, Knox was painted as an oversexed remorseless killer during her two-year trial leading up to her conviction and subsequent sentencing to 26 years in jail. Harden portrays Amanda's mother Edda Mellas.

Immediately following the movie at 11PM ET/PT, Lifetime will premiere the hour-long documentary, Beyond the Headlines: Amanda Knox, featuring Amanda's mother, father, friends, investigators, prosecutors and legal scholars who take viewers inside the Italian justice system and reveal what it's like to be a foreigner locked up and convicted in another country. Set in the town of Perugia, Italy, and Amanda's hometown of Seattle, the documentary will unravel the legal evidence and allegations to look at what really happened to Meredith Kercher on November 2, 2007 - and what Amanda Knox's role might have been.

Produced by Pilgrim Films and Television, Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy is executive produced by Trevor Walton, Craig Anderson (Midwives, Range of Motion), Craig Piligian (Top Shot, Dirty Jobs) and Wendy Battles (CSI: NY, Law & Order), who also wrote the screenplay.

Robert Dornhelm (Anne Frank: The Whole Story, Sins of the Father) directed and Randy Sutter (Lifetime's Girl, Positive and For One Night) produced the film.

Beyond the Headlines: Amanda Knox is produced by CBS EYE Productions. Executive producers include Brett Alexander of CBS EYE Productions and JoAnn Alfano, Gena McCarthy and David Hillman of Lifetime Television. Resa Matthews is producer.

ABOUT CBS EYE PRODUCTIONS

CBS EYE Productions creates diverse non-fiction programming for domestic and international markets. Our clients include CBS, Discovery, Food Network, The History Channel, TLC, A&E, Lifetime, MTV, WE, The Cooking Channel, Animal Planet and HGTV to name a few.

ABOUT LIFETIME TELEVISION

Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. Lifetime Television(R), Lifetime Movie Network(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) (which includes myLifetime.com, LMN.tv, Lifetime Games, Roiworld.com, DressUpChallenge.com, MothersClick.com and LifetimeMoms.com) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A&E Television Networks, LLC. A&E Television Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.