You know it was going to happen that Hollywood would leap on dramatizations of the current COVID-19 crisis, but did you expect it to be this soon? There isn’t even a coronavirus vaccine yet, and already HBO and Oscar-winning director Adam McKay are developing a limited series about the quest to find one.
Deadline reports HBO has optioned The First Shot, based on the non-fiction book by The Atlantic and New York Times journalist Brendan Borrell, exploring the global race to find a COVID-19 vaccine.
The actual series has yet to be given a title, currently going by “Untitled Vaccine Project”. No information on episode count, casting, etc., has been detailed as of yet. McKay will produce through his Hyperobject Industries label, and will exec-produce, as well.
Add this to the growing list of projects McKay has cooking with HBO. Most notably, he’s working with director Bong Joon-ho on a Parasite series. He also has a miniseries about Jeffrey Epstein, a Los Angeles Lakers drama, and more.
Meanwhile, HBO is going all-in on coronavirus-related content. The network also has Coastal Elites, a comedy special starring Bette Midler, Sarah Paulson, Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Levy, and Issa Rae due to release in September.
