Can Will Ferrell's longtime creative partner, Adam McKay, become a household name himself?
You're watching Beyond The Trailer's review of The Big Short...
It's not a bad idea to have a former SNL writer tackle such dry material like the recent housing bubble, and if you're
wondering why Brad Pitt's in this movie it's because hiring Adam McKay to write and direct
The Big Short was his idea. See, back 2013 Paramount purchased the film rights to Michael
Lewis' book The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine for Pitt's Plan B Entertainment to
produce. Y'know, the production company that Pitt started in 2001 with then wife Jennifer
Aniston and talent manager Brad Grey. Brad Grey had to resign when he was named CEO of
Paramount, and Pitt got sole-custody of the company when he and Aniston divorced. And
he's done a lot with it, proving himself to be a very savvy businessman - not only producing
hits for himself like World War Z, but also prestige pictures like Selma and 12 Years
a Slave. Yes, that's how good a producer Pitt is, as he won his first Oscar for Best Picture
and not for Best Actor. So here is playing a supporting role in yet another awards contender,
which actually does seem to have some Oscar buzz - helped by a year where the awards race
seems to be wide open. And awards voters love pedigree, which The Big Short has in Pitt
and author Michael Lewis, whose other books The Blind Side and Moneyball which both racked
up a slew of Oscar nominations - and famously a win for Sandra Bullock. Christian Bale,
Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling are also very awards friendly. But then there's Adam McKay,
who's more MTV movie awards friendly. McKay wanted to be a cast member on SNL but only
managed to score a writing gig, where he eventually became head writer on the show. He then left
SNL with Will Ferrell, blazing an impressive path across the silver screen with their Gary
Sanchez Productions on smaller screens with their Funny or Die. But recently, McKay has
been trying to make a name for himself beyond Ferrell. His first big solo move was doing
re-writes on Ant-Man, and there's no better way to make a name for yourself with movie
fans than to work on a Marvel film. And there's been talk of McKay returning to Marvel, but
overall McKay - and his management team - are looking to see how things pan out with The
Big Short. If it actually does become an awards contender, he can write his own ticket going
forward. If it doesn't, well, let's just hope Ferrell isn't too insulted McKay tried to leave him...