Jennifer Lawrence on for Adam McKay’s new medical controversy drama

Jennifer Lawrence

by James White |
Published on

After tackling the financial collapse to Oscar-nominated effect in The Big Short, Adam McKay has his eye on a real-life medical company scandal and has Jennifer Lawrence attached to star.

The subject this time os a company called Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes (the person, we assume, Lawrence would play). Launched in 2003, Holmes claimed that Theranos would revolutionise blood testing by using just a pinprick of blood, as opposed to the usual method of a syringe or two. The company was the darling of Silicon Valley when it started, securing a $9 billion valuation that lasted until a couple of years ago, with Holmes herself worth around $4.5 billion given her 50 per cent stake. But following accusations that its testing was inaccurate and there had been problems in the lab, the company is under investigation, the valuation has plummeted and Holmes and her executives are defending themselves.

While it feels premature to be tackling this subject with the investigation ongoing, it's certainly the sort of subject both Lawrence and McKay could do well with, and the actress tackled something similar (albeit with a slightly more positive outlook) in Joy.

Lawrence, onscreen in X-Men: Apocalypse, will next be seen in Passengers, out on December 23. McKay has largely been producing other people's films through his Gary Sanchez company, while he develops new directing gigs and contributes story work to Ant-Man And The Wasp.

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