America’s financial meltdown of the late Noughties is set to receive the Hollywood treatment again, this time with a stellar ensemble cast under the banner of Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B. Not only will Pitt be onscreen but he’ll share that poor expanse of white with Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale – enough acting intensity to burn a hole through a cinema wall.
THE BIG SHORT is an adaptation of The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. That took a blistering look at the movers and shakers whose catastrophic irresponsibility led to the housing and credit bubble that went pop in 2007. Roles are yet to be confirmed but more big names are expected to join the rogues gallery in due course.
Tinseltown covered similar ground in 2010’s THE COMPANY MEN, though that was criticized in some quarters for being somewhat on the mild side. I can’t see that being an issue here – the last Pitt/Lewis collaboration was MONEYBALL and it’s not as if the actor-turned-producer shies away from difficult subject matter.
Pitt is co-producing with DeDe Gardner and Paramount Pictures. The surprising choice for director is Will Ferrell’s production partner Adam McKay.
Source: Variety
