The cameras haven’t even begun rolling yet on Paramount Pictures’ newly announced film The Big Short, but there’s little about the project that doesn’t scream “Oscar contender.”
The upcoming film is based on hit maker/author Michael Lewis’ 2010 novel The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, which chronicles the evolution of the housing and credit bubble in the 2000s that led to the global financial crisis of 2007-2010. Unfolding from the perspectives of some of the people who successfully predicted the crisis and those who both benefited from it and found themselves ruined by it, the film will host a staggering list of stars that includes Christian Bale (American Hustle), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Brad Pitt (Fury), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), and Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler).
For anyone keeping score, that’s a grand total of nine Academy Award nominations and four wins just among the cast announced so far.
The Big Short is the latest novel authored by Lewis to make it to the screen after Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game were both turned into Oscar-nominated movies.
As if that’s not enough Academy Award pedigree, the film will be produced by Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, who took home the gold as the producers of 12 Years a Slave and were nominated for producing last year’s Selma.
The film is based on a script penned by Love and Other Drugs screenwriter Charles Randolph and will be directed by Adam McKay, whose previous work has been firmly entrenched in the comedy genre, with Anchorman and The Other Guys some of the most notable projects. McKay’s presence behind the camera makes the film an even more intriguing project, given his comedy background and the predominantly dramatic work of the cast and producers.
There’s currently no release date set for The Big Short, which is expected to begin production this month in New Orleans, LA.
