Earlier we reported that Adam McKay, director of comedy hits Anchorman, Step Brothers and The Other Guys, was developing a biopic of former Vice President Dick Cheney. The move follows his venture into more high-minded and topical filmmaking following the success of the 2015 Wall Street takedown The Big Short, film McKay not only directed but also co-wrote; he earned an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Now comes word that McKay has envisioned his headlining cast for the film: Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Steve Carell.
If deals get worked out for the forthcoming Paramount title – which McKay hopes to start shooting this September this a planned theatrical release in late 2018 – Bale would portray Cheney, while Adams is sought for Cheney’s wife Lynne and Carell’s name is being mentioned for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. McKay is penning the screenplay and producing alongside Plan B’s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner and his own Gary Sanchez Productions shingle.
The film – currently untitled – would center around polarizing former Veep, who infamously moved from chief executive to Halliburton onto becoming arguably one of the most powerful Vice Presidents in American history. The film marks not just another notch for the political for the former Saturday Night Live writer but joins another enticing project for the filmmaker – McKay is also set to tackle Bad Blood, drama set to star Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence as Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the controversial blood-test company Theranos. Bad Blood is set up at Universal and Legendary Pictures but may be taking a back seat the Cheney project as the film’s third-act may need adjusting as Holmes’ real-life drama continues to unfold.
If Bale and Adams do indeed join the film, it would a reunion for the former American Hustle and The Fighter colleagues; both actors earned Oscar nods for both David O. Russell features (with Bale winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Fighter). Bale appeared in The Big Short (and earned an Oscar nod) and soon appears in Terry George’s The Promise and in Scott Cooper’s Hostiles, due out later this year. Adams, five-time Oscar nominee, ended 2016 with critically admired takes in Arrival and Nocturnal Animals; she will next reprise her take on Lois Lane in Justice League and will start in HBO’s upcoming limited series Sharp Objects. Carell, another The Big Short alum, earned an Oscar nomination for his about-face dramatic turn in the 2014 feature Foxcatcher. He is set to star opposite Oscar winner Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes, due in theaters this September.
We shall stay tuned.
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