After the critical and commercial success of The Big Short, it looks like Adam McKay's gravitating away from comedy towards more serious fare.
As we previously reported, McKay's next film will be about George W. Bush's Vice President, Dick Cheney and Deadline has now confirmed that Christian Bale will be playing the man himself. The as-yet untitled film will chart Cheney's rise to power, his time as an executive for international conglomerate Halliburton, to his time in the Republican Party and beyond.
Meanwhile, Steve Carrell has signed on to star as former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, whilst Amy Adams will play Cheney's wife, Lynne. As you probably know, this isn't the first time Dick Cheney has been visualised on screen. Richard Dreyfus played him in Oliver Stone's biopic on George W. Bush, whilst Scott Glenn played Rumsfeld.
So, thoughts? Adam McKay's really making that transition from comedy to serious films in an interesting way. The Big Short had cleverly staged moments of comedy interspersed with some hard-hitting journalism. What made The Big Short so interesting was just how readily it condensed down the financial crash into a form that audiences could understand.
That'll serve him well for this kind of film, and it's been a while since we've had a decent political biopic that really gets under the nails instead of beatifying.
Via Deadline
