Elizabeth Holmes has reached the epitome of docuseries fame. Well, infamy might be the better choice of words. Thanks to a podcast and recent doc, the head of the controversial company Theranos has joined Ted Bundy, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Adnan Syed, and Steven Avery as folks that have achieved new levels of fame based on incredibly interesting circumstances in their lives. However, of that group, Holmes is the only one that hasn’t murdered someone or been convicted of murder…so there’s that.
Alas, Holmes’ is moving to the next phase of documentary infamy, with a new TV series based on her life, titled “The Dropout.” And according to Deadline, the always enjoyable Kate McKinnon is signed on to portray the controversial scientific figurehead. The limited series is expected to run between 6 and 10 episodes (typical for this sort of thing) and is based on the podcast of the same name from creator Rebecca Jarvis, who is also a producer on the TV project.
For those not aware of Holmes and her controversial career, the entrepreneur reached fame by becoming the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, and the “next Steve Jobs.” However, over time, her company became the subject of a major investigation with Holmes facing criminal charges and massive amounts of jail time. Clearly, McKinnon will be flexing her dramatic muscles for this series, instead of the wildly comedic roles that she’s best known for.
“The Dropout” has been picked up by Hulu and is the first new project from Fox Searchlight TV under the Disney regime. This probably explains the Hulu connection, now that Disney owns 60% stake in the streaming service. It’s assumed that the Mouse House will use Hulu as it’s dumping ground for more adult-themed projects that don’t belong on the upstart service Disney+ (which caters to families). Think of Hulu as potentially becoming the HBO arm of Disney.
No word on when production will begin or when a release is expected for “The Dropout.” But you can expect movement on the project to be fast, as Elizabeth Holmes is a bit of a pop culture phenomenon right now.
