Although few people consider the state of our modern national economy an especially entertaining topic, three of Hollywood’s most successful leading men have expressed interest in the film adaptation of Moneyball author Michael Lewis’s The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. Powerhouse trio Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Christian Bale are reportedly in talks to sign onto the project, with Pitt’s production company Plan B slated to produce the adaptation.

Despite these actors’ reputations as Hollywood heartthrobs, this upcoming film will put emphasis on economics and intrigue rather than romance.

Written by financial analyst and best-selling author Michael Lewis, The Big Short is a true story revolving around the duplicity and dark machinery ticking behind the 2008 stock market crash. This is comfortable territory for Lewis, having achieved his master’s degree in economics as well as bona fide experience within the beating heart of Wall Street.

With the film adaptations of his previous best-selling novels, The Blind Side and Moneyball, both becoming Academy Award-nominated fare, it is apparent that Lewis prefers non-fiction stories with a tendency to magnify the emotional, psychological, and political conflicts injected into the lives of (falsely labeled) “ordinary” men. If it remains loyal to the novel, The Big Short does not appear as though it will stray from this formula.

In contrast to Lewis’s gritty style and content, writer/director/producer Adam McKay (Anchorman, The Other Guys) has been allegedly signed on as the screenwriter for the adaptation and may end up directing. Although little detailed information is available regarding the project thus far, the tone of The Big Short’s script could potentially be affected with a seasoned comedian like McKay at the helm. A longtime partner of Will Ferrell, McKay’s previous work includes Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and the upcoming Ant-Man film, as well as a body of work with the website funnyordie.com.

This will be Pitt’s second time starring in a film based off of a Michael Lewis novel, his first encounter being the 2011 hit Moneyball.