Kate McKinnon in works to star as Elizabeth Holmes in 'The Dropout,' based on ABC News podcast
After launching the very successful podcast and ABC News special "The Dropout," based on former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, Hulu is working on a deal for a show run of the series that will star Emmy-winning actress Kate McKinnon.
The run of the project is expected to be 6 to 10 episodes and come from Fox Searchlight's TV division, per Deadline. Nothing has been announced by Fox or Hulu as of yet.
McKinnon will produce the series, along with "The Dropout" creator Rebecca Jarvis and fellow podcast creators and producers Taylor Dunn and Victoria Thompson.
"The Dropout" famously depicts the rise and fall of Holmes, who was once called the next Steve Jobs with her "revolutionary" invention and new process to test blood for disease. In the end though, her process was uncovered to not work and the billion-dollar company fell into shambles.
The namesake of the show is based off Holmes' decision to drop out of Stanford University to form her company and market her new technology. It's also a clever pun about a "drop" of blood, that Dunn came up with.
After a three-year investigation by ABC News Chief Business, Technology and Economics Correspondent Jarvis, along with Dunn and Thompson, ABC News launched the new podcast and produced the feature documentary “The Dropout” to tell the story of Holmes, along with producer Ashley Louszko.
"The Dropout" takes listeners on a journey that features the first sit-down interview with Jeff Coopersmith, the attorney representing former Theranos President and COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, and exclusive access to never-before-aired deposition audiotapes of key players, including Holmes, Balwani, Holmes' brother Christian Holmes, Theranos whistleblower Tyler Shultz, Theranos board members Bill Frist, Gary Roughead, Robert Kovacevich and more.
The ABC News podcast joined sister show "Start Here" as one of the flagship podcasts for the network earlier this year, with a subsequent special on "20/20" and "Nightline" in March.
Watch that special here.
ABC News and Fox Searchlight, which is invested in Hulu, are both part of parent company Disney.
