Not long after the HBO aired the documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, about the twisted relationship between Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose, Hulu launched their scripted take on the events with The Act. Similarly, not long after HBO aired its documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (about the absolutely crazy behind-the-scenes events around the rise and fall of Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes), Hulu is again submitting a scripted take in the form of The Dropout. The icing on top is that Deadline reports SNL‘s Kate McKinnon is set to take the lead role as Holmes.
Now, if you haven’t watched The Inventor or aren’t familiar with Holmes’ story (or that of her company Theranos), well, get thee to a wiki. But the essentials are this: Holmes bamboozled a host of big-money types into funding her company whose product could never work, and she was eventually arrested (she’s currently under house arrest awaiting trial). There’s much, much more to it than that, including what employees did — and mostly didn’t — know at the time, as well as bizarre personal ticks that Holmes has, including putting on a baritone voice and staring intensely without blinking for what seems like an awfully long period of time. Self-styled as a new Steve Jobs, Holmes continues to insist she has does nothing wrong, and the depths of what seems to be her denial is truly astonishing.
Image via Netflix
So who better to play this strange figure but McKinnon? The limited series is set to run between 6 and 10 episodes, and is based on the podcast of the same name that aired in January and later became an episode of ABC News’ 20/20. This new production will be a collaboration with the ABC News trio behind that Dropout podcast: host /creator Rebecca Jarvis, who is ABC News chief business, technology and economics correspondent, and producers Taylor Dunn and Victoria Thompson. The podcast’s description reads as follows:
“The story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye? How did the woman once heralded as ‘the next Steve Jobs’ find herself facing criminal charges — to which she pleaded not guilty — and up to 20 years in jail? How did her technology, meant to revolutionize healthcare, potentially put millions of patients at risk? And how did so many smart people get it so wrong along the way?”
Bring. It. On.