The only real shock about the fact that someone is developing a TV show around Ebola is that it isn’t Law & Order.
Indeed, legitimately famous director/producer Ridley Scott is the one helming the project, which actually has been 20 years in the making. Originally planned as a movie starring Jodie Foster way back in 1994, the Ebola project is based on the nonfiction best seller The Hot Zone by Richard Preston.
A truly alarming book about viral outbreaks (including Ebola), the book was optioned before it even came out, and Scott has held onto the rights as he waited for the perfect moment. Given the widespread panic over Ebola coming to the U.S., the timing is now right for him to cash in.
Scott will be working with Fox TV to develop the series, which (one would have to assume) will be fast tracked just in case we get a handle on the whole Ebola thing and it starts to fade from the news. Is there anything more American than commercializing mass hysteria?
[via UPROXX]
