The Big Short‘s Adam McKay to Direct Dick Cheney Biopic at Paramount

From SNL, to Will Ferrell-driven comedy hits like Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, and finally to the Oscar-winning drama The Big Short, Adam McKay has been slowly evolving into a momentous director. That transition will hopefully be upheld with his newest film, a Dick Cheney biopic at Paramount Pictures.

Penned by McKay, the as-of-yet-untitled project will document Cheney’s rise from Halliburton CEO to the vice president under George W. Bush. Cheney has long been a polarizing figure, whom McKay feels is one of the most powerful political figures in modern history.

“I’ve always found Cheney fascinating,” McKay told Deadline. “Questions of what drove him, what his beliefs were; but once we started digging I was astounded at how much he had shaped modern America’s place in the world and how shocking the methods were by which he gained his power.”

Plan B producers Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner will again join up with McKay and his Gary Sanchez partners, Will Ferrell and Kevin Messick, to produce the film. The Big Short team hopes to reunite for production in the spring in order to achieve a late 2017 release.