That title is a little ironic because it seems like Ebola already has its own TV series on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and practically every news outlet around the world. The whole thing's a little ridiculous, if you ask me, and it's just a way for the networks to cash in on a disease you have a zero % chance of catching. But Hollywood, always seeing $$$ before anything else, is bringing the disease to TV with the help of Ridley Scott.
Scott and Lynda Obst are developing a limited "event" series for Fox TV, and at least this won't be some sensationalist piece of crap like Outbreak. Instead, it will be based on Richard Preston's thoughtful and highly-regarded book, The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus. Preston's a smart guy, and perhaps CNN should have had him on to talk about the disease rather than Robin Cook, who they proclaimed was "the man who wrote the book on Ebola" when he was really just the author of Outbreak, a work of pure fiction.
Scott will serve as exec-producer and may direct a few episodes, and he's also looking to secure the rights to Preston's upcoming article on Ebola for the New Yorker. There had been a plan to turn The Hot Zone into a feature film penned by Jim Hart, but that plan is out and Hart is now on board as a producer for the series along with David Zucker. Scott and Obst have been working on this for a year, hiring Jeff Vintar (I, Robot) to write the script and are now pushing ahead quickly due to the current Ebola crisis.
All Ebola, all the time. How long before we get Ebola-Infected Sharknado on SyFy? You know it's not as ridiculous as it sounds.
