Adam McKay to direct The Big Short from Moneyball writer Michael Lewis

March 24th 2014, 5:18pm

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Hot off the sequel ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES, director Adam McKay is set to go into more dramatic fare with THE BIG SHORT, based on the book by MONEYBALL author Michael Lewis. The book chronicles the housing and creit bubble of the 2000's and will be produced by Paramount and Brad Pitt's Plan B, which also produced Pitt's MONEYBALL.

"Michael Lewis has the amazing ability to take complex formulas and concepts and turn them into page turners. Plan B and I connected over that breathless quality the book has. Very excited to jump into this," said McKay.

Here's the book description (from Amazon):

The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn't shine and the SEC doesn't dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower–and middle–class Americans who can't pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren't talking.

Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar's Poker. Out of a handful of unlikely–really unlikely–heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.

McKay tackled this type of material in his 2010 comedy THE OTHER GUYS, which had Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell going up against corrupt financial institutions, albeit in a more comedic fashion. The end credits for that film were definitely a sign that he wasn't just joking around, though, and it appears that McKay is venturing into that territory with the desire to do more than get a few laughs. I enjoyed MONEYBALL very much and I'm always game to see something a little more provoking that can expose some of the issues affecting our world, so I'm interested to see what the director does with this.

No cast or release date have been set. More as this develops.

Here's THE OTHER GUYS end credits sequence: