Adam McKay likely had a fairly easy job landing the services of regular level actors such as Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt for The Big Short, but we doubt he’d have guessed in a million years that he’d end up working with superstar and potential (at the time of writing this) Oscar nominee Steve Carell. But that shining golden dream looks set to come true as Carell is close to a role in McKay’s new high-finance drama.
Okay, so Carell and McKay have a long, friendly history together, sparked by their collaboration on the Anchorman films. But this will be a very different beast, and another chance for Carell to show off the dramatic abilities that has won him all that acclaim for Foxcatcher.
Word on Pitt, Gosling and Bale broke only a day or so ago, but even then the reports mentioned a Traffic-style ensemble of solid acting talent, so here begins the flood of other casting – or at least potential casting, as Carell has yet to sign a deal. But with The Hollywood Reporter’s story on Carell comes some fresh details on the characters for the film, which is adapted from Moneyball man Michael Lewis’ non-fiction tome about the financial bubbles of the early 2000s that led to the crisis in 2007/2008.
Carell is eyeing the role of Steve Eisman, a money manager who shorted subprime mortgages for FrontPoint Partners, while Gosling is to play Deutsche Bank trader Greg Lippmann. Bale will portray Michael Burry, the founder of the Scion Capital and one of the first people to predict the coming crisis. And Pitt, in more of a supporting part, will take on Ben Hockett, a partner at Cornwall Capital. There’s no set schedule for the film yet, which will have to juggle the busy careers of its various actors.
Talking of being in demand, Carell has most recently finished work on gay-rights drama Freeheld, is producing cop comedy Angie Tribeca for US TV and has a variety of movies in development.