Adam McKay Plots Film About Dick Cheney

Filmmaker Adam McKay will direct a new movie he wrote about former vice president Dick Cheney, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The movie will track Cheney’s transition from CEO of oil conglomerate Halliburton to vice president in George W. Bush’s White House. During his time as VP, Cheney notoriously exercised incredible sway, advocating for the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq alongside “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding. Prior to his stint at Halliburton, Cheney worked in the Nixon, Ford and George H.W. Bush administrations, and served as the representative for Wyoming’s at-large district. His ruthlessness has earned him comparisons to Darth Vader, which he called an honor in 2011.

McKay’s script is expected to be sent out to actors soon while production could begin in spring for a release late next year. The film will find McKay further exploring true, politically tinged dramas after launching his career in comedy, first as a writer and director on Saturday Night Live and later at the helm of Will Ferrell movies like Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers.

While those movies had a subversive streak, McKay officially made the jump with 2015’s The Big Short, his comedic dramatization of the 2008 financial crisis. The film garnered wide acclaim and McKay an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Along with the Cheney movie, McKay is also at work on Bad Blood, a new film starring Jennifer Lawrence as Elizabeth Holmes. Holmes founded the blood testing company Theranos, which came under investigation for inaccurate testing. He’s also co-writing and directing a new HBO pilot, Succession, about a fictional global-media family.