HBO Max has put an “Outliers” anthology project into development, based on the best-selling book by Malcolm Gladwell. The first subject of the potential series will be Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Brian Grazer (“Genius”), Ron Howard (“Genius”), and Samie Kim Falvey will executive produce for Imagine Television Studios, along with Gladwell and Greg Walker, who also serves as writer and showrunner. CBS Studios is a co-producing partner, and James Seidman will oversee for Imagine.
The series will be part historical drama and part biopic, and will examine what makes people successful and at what cost. The first season will be based on the New Yorker article, “How Anthony Fauci Became America’s Doctor” by Michael Specter.
“I am thrilled to be working with my longtime friend Malcolm Gladwell on this creative collaboration. Malcolm and I have known each other for over fifteen years, and every time I speak to him, I find it to be a richer day,” said Grazer. “I’ve been a fan of all his books, and Outliers provides the perfect framework for a groundbreaking series.”
“The point of my book Outliers was that we need to tell the story of success in different ways, looking at the way talent is affected by luck and circumstance and culture and context. I’m thrilled that Imagine wants to take the same approach to storytelling on television,” said Gladwell.
“We are thrilled to bring Malcolm’s definitive book on achievement to TV. He and Greg have crafted a series that tells truly unique and often unknown stories about figures who’ve shaped our modern world,” said Falvey.
Gladwell is also the author of four other New York Times bestsellers, including “The Tipping Point”, “Blink”, “What the Dog Saw”, and “David and Goliath.” He hosts the podcast “Revisionist History and is a staff writer at The New Yorker.