Paramount announced Tuesday that “The Big Short” — a film based on Michael Lewis‘ bestseller about four high-finance fellows (Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt) who foresaw an opportunity with the impending collapse in 2008 of the credit and housing bubble — will be released this year rather than next. Adam McKay, best-known for his collaborations with Will Ferrell on the “Anchorman” franchise, handled the helming and co-wrote the script with Charles Randolph. After unspooling at the closing night of the AFI filmfest on Nov. 12, it will get a limited release on Dec. 11 before going wide on Dec. 23.
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Carell plays hedge fund manager Steve Eisman, Gosling is Deutsche Bank trader Greg Lippmann, Pitt is Cornwall Capital partner Ben Hockett and Bale is Dr. Michael Burry, an ex-neurologist who founded Scion Capital. Also featured in the cast are a couple of Supporting Actress Oscar champs — Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) and Marisa Tomei (“My Cousin Vinnie”) — as well as Jeremy Strong (“Selma”) and recent Emmy nominee Finn Wittrock (“American Horror Story: Freak Show”).
Pitt, whose Plan B shingle is producing this picture, has done well with Lewis already. He produced and starred in 2011 Best Picture nominee “Moneyball,” based on Lewis’ bestselling “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.” The journalist turned author also penned “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,” the film version of which won Sandra Bullock the Best Actress Oscar back in 2009. That blockbuster also contended for Best Picture.
Parmount also has a strong Oscar contender in Charlie Kaufman’s stop-motion animated feature “Anomalisa#.” The studio acquired this crowd-funded film after it wowed audiences at the Venice and Toronto filmfests. It is scheduled for limited release on Dec. 30.
Below, take a look at the trailer for “The Big Short.”
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