If we were one of the top bosses at pharmaceutical company Johnson & Jonhson, we'd be freaking out big time right now.
Yesterday, US entertainment site Variety reported that the duo behind the world-dominating series Making a Murderer had settled on their next project – a TV adaptation of a Huffington Post article entitled “America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker”.
The serialized article, written by journalist Steven Brill, centres around medicine company Johnson & Johnson and their development of an antipsychotic drug, Risperdal, which was aimed directly at children and the elderly. The drug was infamously marketed without letting on about the horrendous side-effects it inflicted, and the company was fined $2 billion for withholding the information, but supposedly sold $30 billion of the drug worldwide.
Now, filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, the twosome that had us all glued to the plight of Manitwoc County’s Steven Avery, are set to sink their teeth into the meaty issue and bring it to our screens.
There are reports that this may form up a scripted series, so a departure from their winning Making a Murderer format, and as yet there is no indication as to how many episodes we’ll be looking at.
However, one massive name has already been attached to the project: George Clooney. His production company, Smokehouse Pictures, has backed series.
Something tells us there may be some very shouty crisis meetings happening at Johnson & Johnson HQ today.
