Universal Global Television and Patrick Macmanus's Littleton Road Productions have acquired television rights to "Biological War: A Scenario," the new novel by journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, following a competitive bidding war. The project matters as another high-profile move by studios to adapt Jacobsen's speculative, non-fiction-style scenarios for television and film, building on the success of her previous bestseller in the same style, and it extends Macmanus's growing overall deal at UGT into another prestige true-crime-adjacent drama space.

Macmanus and Jacobsen will co-create and executive produce the series, alongside fellow executive producer Kelly Funke, with the adaptation to be shopped to buyers in the coming weeks. The book imagines a routine day spiralling into global catastrophe within six days, but Macmanus has described the planned series as focused on themes of community, rebuilding and renewal rather than nihilism. He is also currently developing a Richard Ramirez-focused follow-up to his Peacock series "Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy" and an adaptation of John Grisham's "The Boys From Biloxi," while Jacobsen's earlier book "Nuclear War: A Scenario" is separately being adapted by Legendary Entertainment with Denis Villeneuve directing.