'I will not allow this nobody to kill my brother... twice!' Penelope Cruz is in mourning and Ricky Martin is blood-soaked as the first trailer for The Assassination Of Gianni Versace drops

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The highly-anticipated season season of American Crime Story - which is subtitled The Assassination Of Gianni Versace - has been teased in a new trailer, ahead of its January release.

And it looks as thrilling as the first - which centered around the trial of OJ Simpson after the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown - but more deprived, bloody and scandalous.

Opening with Antonio D'Amico, Versace's partner [played by Ricky Martin] running out of Versace's mansion, screaming for help, the trailer is one and a half minutes of fast-paced drama. 

'I will not allow this nobody to kill my brother... twice!' Penelope Cruz is in mourning and Ricky Martin is blood-soaked as the first trailer for The Assasination Of Gianni Versace drops

Help! Opening with Antonio D'Amico, Versace's partner [played by Ricky Martin] running out of Versace's mansion, screaming for help, the trailer is one and a half minutes of fast-paced drama

In frantic scenes, a newscaster is heard reporting that 'shortly before 9AM, fashion designer Gianni Versace [Edgar Ramirez] was shot on the steps of his villa.'

As lawyers and policemen are seen swarming the scene, Antonio is seen in white tennis gear, covered in his lover's blood.

At this point, Donatella [Penelope Cruz] arrives to discover the news that her brother has been killed.

'He was a creator, he was a genius, everything you see around us, this house, this company... I will not allow this man, this nobody, to kill my brother twice,' she says, referring to the man who was uncovered as the murderer, Andrew Cunanan [Darren Criss].

Frantic scenes: A newscaster is heard reporting that 'shortly before 9AM, fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot on the steps of his villa'

Gore: Antonio is seen in white tennis gear, covered in his lover's blood

In a series of flashbacks, Andrew is seen arriving in Miami, where Versace was based, bragging about how he knows the fashion boss.

He then looks to become involved with an unidentified man, engaging in S&M in the bedroom, wrapping duct tape around his lover in order to asphyxiate him.

'I can be submissive,' he says.

Andrew is then seen meeting with a modelling agent as another man tells him: 'You cant do it - stop lying!' 

'He was a creator, he was a genius': Penelope's character says - ' I will not allow this man, this nobody, to kill my brother twice,', referring to the man who was uncovered as the murderer, Andrew Cunanan [Darren Criss, pictured]

Flashback: Andrew is seen arriving in Miami, where Versace was based, bragging about how he knows the fashion boss

Twists in the tale: 'I can be submissive,' he says in the clip

Next, police are discussing how 'Andrew Cunanan has killed four men', followed by several shots of him looking manic and frightening.

The trailer ends in a monologue of sorts, aimed at Versace himself.

'This world has wasted me, yet this world also made you Mr Versace.

'You’re a star, you’re not better than me, you’re the same. The only difference is you got lucky.'

Violent: He then looks to become involved with an unidentified man, engaging in S&M in the bedroom, wrapping duct tape around his lover in order to asphyxiate him

Psychopath: Andrew is then seen meeting with a modelling agent

Dark: police are discussing how 'Andrew Cunanan has killed four men', followed by several shots of him looking manic and frightening

And the trailer ends as the gun is pointed to Versace and a shot is heard. 

Versace was murdered in July 1997 and the series is set to premiere on January 17.

Penelope Cruz's role in the show is in fact her first TV part, and  was teased at the end of the summer in stills from the series.

She was pictured as Donatella with a platinum blonde mane, her steely face covered by a black lace veil.

She also wears a black mourning dress as she stares forward, in a trance, presumably pictured ahead of her brother's funeral.

Another image shows Edgar Ramirez, as Versaci, wearing a silk dressing gown and sipping tea in his luxurious garden - seemingly during the final moments of his life.

A third still shows Annaleigh Ashford as Elizabeth, Darren Criss as Andrew and Nico-Evers-Swindell as Phil in a breakfast scene.  

High drama: The trailer ends in a monologue of sorts, aimed at Versace himself. 'This world has wasted me, yet this world also made you Mr Versace. 'You’re a star, you’re not better than me, you’re the same. The only difference is you got lucky'

Shot: The trailer ends as the gun is pointed to Versace and a shot is heard

Woman in black: Penelope Cruz dons a black veil to portray Donatella Versace in dramatic stills from American Crime Story

The show tells the story of the fashion legend's death in a case that remains one of the most talked about crimes in American history.

It took place on the steps of Gianni's Ocean Drive mansion in Miami and brought together a host of celebrities for his memorial in his home town of Milan including Princess Diana, Elton John, Naomi Campbell, Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani and Sting.

Killer Cunanan was one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted after being identified as the murderer of four men in three states in April and May 1997.

However, after arriving in Miami driving a truck stolen from his fourth victim, he managed to go undetected for two months.

Doomed: Another image shows Edgar Ramirez, as Gianni, wearing a silk dressing gown and sipping tea in what looks to be a luxurious garden

He then walked up to Versace one morning and pumped two bullets into his head on the steps of his South Beach home.

Cunanan, 27, continued to evade law enforcement for 10 more days until he took his own life after being surrounded by SWAT officers on a house boat moored at a marina just blocks from the Versace mansion. 

The finale episode of The People Vs OJ Simpson - which starred the likes of Cuba Gooding Jr, JohnTravolta, Selma Blair and David Schwimmer - drew 1.85 million viewers and in May it won BAFTA’s best international show gong, beating Netflix’s Stranger Things, HBO’s The Night Of and Amazon’s Transparent.

The third season will follow the events of Hurricane Katrina and star season one actress Sarah Paulson who will play Dr Anna Pou, the doctor on duty at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center when Hurricane Katrina hit in the summer of 2005.

Killer: (L-R) Annaleigh Ashford as Elizabeth, Darren Criss as murderer Andrew Cunanan and Nico-Evers-Swindell as Phil

Siblings: Donatella and Gianna (seen here in 1996) were very close in real life 

Many have wondered how a hurricane fits in with the 'crime' theme of American Crime Story - but the series will actually follow the aftermath of the disaster, that saw mortuary workers recover 45 bodies from the hospital after it had to be evacuated during the storm.

Toxicology tests were performed on 41 bodies, and 23 tested positive for one or both of morphine and the fast-acting sedative midazolam - but few of these patients had been prescribed morphine for pain.

In the following weeks, it was reported that staff had actioned the euthanizing of patients, which led to a report being filed with the Attorney General.

Season four, which has already been commissioned, will follow Bill Clinton's sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky.

The man at the helm of the series is Ryan Murphy - famed for his various other series, the most popular of which, American Horror Story, is currently airing its seventh season - Cult.

The show follows a clan of killer clown-inspired rebels, led by one ringleader played by regular star Evan Peters. 

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story will be aired on BBC Two when it comes to UK screens in 2018.