IP Picks🔎 : A Billionaire Doomsday Drama à la 'White Lotus'

➕A forgotten train crash; a serial killer whodunit; and 'It's a Wonderful Life' for a comedian

APOCALYPSE WOW Vivos’ survival shelters cater to the ultra wealthy. (terravivos.com)

Welcome to The Optionist! Thanks for reading along. We wanted to get our regular Friday picks of great material available to be optioned out early as everyone gets ready to enjoy Thanksgiving. (Well, maybe not everyone).

Let’s get right to this week’s picks. I really like Sliding Doors, to be honest. Gwyneth’s British accent doesn’t grate on my ears, she and John Hannah have good chemistry and Jeanne Tripplehorn really chews up the scenery as the villain. It’s not a great movie, but it is an enjoyable one. But mostly I love the It’s a Wonderful Life “what if” premise of the different ways a life can go. It’s why I genuinely enjoyed a similar story about a struggling comedian who gets a chance to experience three different versions of his life. We’ve also got:

• A White Lotus-meets-Survivor story about a clash between some lefty do-gooders and a billionaire doomsday prepper in remote New Zealand.

• A riveting drama about the horrific train crash that changed how the country responds to disasters.

• A procedural thriller about a hero cop whose amnesia may be hiding the fact that he’s a serial killer!