Nat Geo is going back to “The Hot Zone.” The cable network ordered a season of the now-anthology series that will center on the anthrax attacks in 2001.
The anthrax attacks took place in the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when letters containing the poisonous and deadly substance were sent to unsuspecting victims.
The anonymous assault claimed five lives, left 17 others sick and caused panic throughout the U.S. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of USAMRIID scientists (The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Defense’s lead research laboratory), FBI agents and Justice Department personnel slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.
“The gripping, propulsive story of the hunt for the anthrax killer who terrorized the country in the dark days that followed the Sept. 11 attack couldn’t be more timely,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president, Global Scripted Content and Documentary Films. “As the world battles COVID-19, another deadly and mysterious virus, “The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is a scientific thriller for our time.”
The first season was based on Richard Preston’s best-selling book of the same name, “The Hot Zone” and was inspired by the true events surrounding the origins of the Ebola virus and its arrival on U.S. soil in 1989. It starred Juliana Margulies, Noah Emmerich (“The Americans”), Liam Cunningham (“Game of Thrones”) and Topher Grace (“BlackKKKlansman”).
Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers and showrunners of the new installment, which is produced by Touchstone Television and Scott Free Productions.