Jeremy Strong To Play Polio Vaccine Inventor In Bron & 21 Laps’ ‘Splendid Solution’

Anthony D'Alessandro
·2 min read
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Succession Emmy winner and The Trial of the Chicago 7 star Jeremy Strong is set to play Dr. Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, in the Bron and 21 Laps feature production Splendid Solution.

The project will be adapted by Gillian Weeks from Jeffrey Kluger’s New York Times bestseller, which tells the true story of Salk’s triumphant quest to create the vaccine as polio ravaged the U.S.

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Salk’s battle against the virus, his perseverance and eventual triumph made him a cultural hero and icon for a generation.

Splendid Solution will be the second film adaptation of Kluger’s work, the author’s Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 having served as the inspiration for Ron Howard’s double-Oscar-winning 1995 blockbuster Apollo 13 ($355.2M WW box office).

Shawn Levy (Free Guy) and Dan Levine (Arrival) will produce on behalf of 21 Laps Entertainment, with Becca Edelman and Emily Feher managing the project. Aaron L. Gilbert (Those Who Wish Me Dead) will produce on behalf of Bron. Strong is an EP along with Bron’s Brady Fujikawa (Good Boys) and Ashley Levinson (Pieces of a Woman). Jared Kramer brought the project into Bron and will oversee on behalf of the studio.

“We can’t think of a more timely story to tell — of one man’s journey to save the world from a devastating pandemic while overcoming misinformation from the media … and how he believed so much in the vaccine that he tested it on himself and his children to prove to the world that it was safe,” said Levy and Levine in a statement.

“This project is tailor-made for the time we’re living in,” added Gilbert. “I am confident that this true story of hope and perseverance in an era of uncertainty will resonate with viewers across the world and remind them of what humankind has overcome. I am honored to have a part in bringing it to life.”

Strong starred as Jerry Rubin in Netflix’s six-time Oscar nominee The Trial of the Chicago 7. He previously appeared in such acclaimed features as The Big Short, Selma, Zero Dark Thirty, Molly’s Game, The Gentlemen and Lincoln. Strong won a Best Actor in a Drama Series Emmy last year for his turn as media scion Kendall Roy in the HBO series Succession. He is repped by WME and Sugar 23. Weeks is repped by the Gersh Agency and Management 360.

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