Adam McKay, the writer-director behind cult comedy favorites Anchorman and Step Brothers is making his first foray into dramatic filmmaking with an A-list cast behind him in The Big Short. Based on Moneyball and The Blindside author Michael Lewis' best-selling nonfiction book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, the film investigates the housing and credit bubble of the 2000s through the story of four economic "outsiders" played by Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt.
In advance of the film's world premiere tonight at AFI Fest, Paramount Pictures has released a new sneak peak video that goes behind the scenes of the economic crisis thriller, offering a glimpse at how McKay will tackle the heavy subject matter without losing his sense of fun. While McKay is best known for his comedies, he is also a very passionate and outspoken dissident against unfair economics, a quality he first put to use in his animated We The Economy segment "The Unbelievably Sweet Little Alpacas" which explored economic inequality through the guise of My Little Pony-eque critters. The new featurette explores how he's bringing that passion and outrage to the The Big Short.
The film has its world premiere tonight at AFI Fest and arrives in limited theaters on December 11th before expanding wide on December 23rd. Melissa Leo, Marisa Tomei, Tracy Letts, Finn Wittrock, and Hamish Linklater also star. Check out the new featurette below.
Here's the official The Big Short synopsis.
When four outsiders saw what the big banks, media and government refused to, the global collapse of the economy, they had an idea: The Big Short. Their bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of modern banking where they must question everyone and everything. Based on the true story and best-selling book by Michael Lewis (The Blind Side, Moneyball), and directed by Adam Mckay (Anchorman, Step Brothers) The Big Short stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt.
