Lawrence Wright’s latest novel, The End Of October, hits bookshelves today and it sounds like something I will devour. In the book, an American microbiologist attempts to stop a new virus from exploding in Indonesia. But, since this is a page-turner, the microbiologist fails and the disease makes its way into the rest of the world and kills millions upon millions. Airports shut down, stock markets collapse, the American president bleeds from the eyes in prime time as 7 percent of the population succumbs. Things get...rough.
Yes, this is definitely a book I want to read. However, it is also a book that is being released in the midst of a real (though thankfully less-deadly) pandemic. Is that good timing or horrible timing? Book sales will hold the answer.
Ridley Scott and his Scott Free Productions aren’t scared by the book’s timely premise because they are producing a feature-length or possibly TV adaptation of The End Of October. Ironically it was Ridley Scott himself who inspired Wright to pen the novel. Six years ago, the filmmaker asked Wright if society really would break down during an outbreak and that got Wright’s mind running. It is only fitting that Scott will produce the adaptation. Deadline says the Alien director is also thinking about directing it too. I sure hope he does because the thought of Ridley Scott taking on a pandemic thriller sounds like heaven to me.
Apparently Netflix is in the mix for distribution but I bet much of Hollywood tries to get in on this deal. Deadline notes that a project like this would already be on a fast-track to production usually but studios and producers are trying to handle this one gently because of the current pandemic. I get that, this is a touchy subject. However, there will be a time when people want to see movies like this again. In fact, there are a lot of people who want to see movies like this now. Netflix and other streaming services have noted a huge uptick in demand for films like Outbreak and Contagion. So maybe the world is ready for The End Of October now, just as long as it’s on the screen and not in the real world.