Adam McKay

Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic, now titled Backseat, will see Hollywood chameleon Christian Bale transform himself into the controversial 46th vice president. McKay is in the process of assembling quite a cast, and today he’s added Independence Day president himself, Bill Pullman, to play a different seat in the White House.

Sony raised quite a few eyebrows with their announcement last week that they would begin a Clean Version Initiative with a bunch of their films in order to sanitize them for younger audiences. The kind of thing that made the list were comedies like Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and Grown Ups, but Sony also listed Hancock, Captain Phillips, and Inferno for all those under-13 Dan Brown fans out there. But after a number of directors and stars took to social media to voice their concerns, Sony has decided not to bowdlerize any movie against its director’s wishes.

Adam McKay’s establishing a reputation as Hollywood’s foremost chronicler of the biggest hot-button issues... of ten years ago. He made blackly satirical mince meat of the subprime lending crisis with The Big Short, stepping back into our recent past to expose the avarice still at play in the world of macroeconomics today. And for his next project, he’s going to take aim at a West Wing political player loathed and feared by liberals as a power-mad despot intent on destroying America. No, not him, we’re referring to a different wannabe fascist with the public graces of Darth Vader. To be specific, Dick Cheney.

America could probably use a hug week after week, and Sarah Silverman might be just the person to do it. The revered comedian has partnered with Funny or Die to deliver a new weekly talk series for Hulu, if only to constantly reassure audiences that I Love You, America.

Before he goes behind the camera for Bad Blood with Jennifer Lawrence, Adam McKay is squeezing in a political drama about…Dick Cheney. That’s somewhat topical, given that Vice President-elect Mike Pence has cited the former Vice President as an inspiration, and soon, thanks to good ol’ fashioned movie magic, we can see why. (Or, you know, you can just Google some old news articles, but McKay’s way sounds a little more entertaining.)

Adam McKay and Jennifer Lawrence both made movies about big business last year. Lawrence starred in Joy for David O. Russell, a biopic about entrepreneur and Miracle Mop innovator Joy Mangano, who rose from humble beginnings to the top of a home improvement empire. McKay’s movie, his first break from surrealistic comedy, was The Big Short, adapted from the Michael Lewis book, about the men who accurately predicted (and wildly profited from) the 2008 economic collapse. In the heated atmosphere of awards season, McKay and Lawrence found themselves as competitors for prizes and box office. Now they’ll team up to make something together about what is seemingly a common interest in the American economy.

This might help explain why Jennifer Lawrence is a little too busy to join that female-fronted Ocean’s Eleven spinoff / reboot: The actress has signed on to star in an untitled project for Adam McKay, which — like Joy — casts Lawrence as an ambitious and innovative business woman, but this time she won’t have such a happy ending.

We’re likely going to see HBO on a tear of new original pilots, given new management and some notable recent flops, and the first new drama orders are certainly promising. One new series ordered to pilot from Anchorman team Adam McKay and Will Ferrell sounds like Arrested Development as high drama, while another from Kathryn Bigelow will take us to Mogadishu, Minnesota.

Back when Edgar Wright parted ways with Marvel, Adam McKay was in the running to replace him as the director of Ant-Man. Although the job ultimately went to Peyton Reed, McKay worked on the screenplay and there have been talks of the director possibly taking on a superhero movie of his very own. That time is now, as McKay has finally signed on to helm a comic book adaptation…just not for Marvel.

If you’ve logged onto Facebook or trolled Reddit today, you surely saw the exciting news: Step Brothers 2 is officially happening and it begins filming this year! Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are back and they’re taking care of a baby! Oh great, a sequel to one of the funniest comedies of the past 25 years! Except it’s not true.