Last year around this time saw the release of Adam McKay’s dark comedy The Big Short, a darkly comic, primal scream of rage directed at the factors that lead to the collapse of the housing market almost ten years ago. And while he is generally known for goofier comedies Anchorman and Step Brothers, he is not yet done with more politically-tinged work.
Rolling Stone is reporting that McKay is prepping to direct a film about former Vice-President Dick Cheney which he wrote.
The movie will track Cheney’s transition from CEO of oil conglomerate Halliburton to vice president in George W. Bush’s White House. During his time as VP, Cheney notoriously exercised incredible sway, advocating for the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq alongside “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding.
The untitled screenplay is expected to be sent out to actors soon as the casting process starts. Conceivably the film could be in production as early as the spring. If so, this would mean that McKay’s other in development project, the medical drama Bad Blood which has Jennifer Lawrence attached to star, is most likely temporarily on the back burner.
With The Big Short being one of the best films of last year, it was nominated for Best Picture and won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards, anything that McKay does next is bound to worth watching. But with the controversial nature of Cheney’s term as Vice-President, it should be very interesting to see how McKay approaches the material. Though I guarantee , like The Big Short, there will be some who will take umbrage at the end result.
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