We heard of Adam McKay’s upcoming comedy Don’t Look Up a few months ago when he signed a first-look deal with Paramount. The flick will tell the tale of a pair of scientists who discover a giant meteor is set to hit Earth in six months. The two frantically go on a publicity tour to warn the globe and are met with a skeptical and unbelieving audience. Sadly, that doesn’t sound too unrealistic. McKay has made no secret of the fact that the film will be an allegory for people not taking the threat of climate change seriously. You can expect some hard-edged satire and finger-wagging from the film maker. What else did you expect from the man who made The Big Short and Vice?
Anyway, we have some news about Don’t Look Up. Firstly, the film will star Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence, presumably as one of the scientists. I don’t have to tell you that’s a huge get for the movie, Lawrence is one of the biggest names in the game. Plus, she’s quite funny though she hasn’t had the chance to appear in many comedies. It’ll be exciting to see Lawrence in a funny movie finally. I’m tired of only seeing her humor showcased in awards show speeches and late night interviews.
Secondly, the film will not be released by Paramount even though they had first dibs. The budget was a bit too much for them so they passed on the project and that’s when those sneaky sons of bitches at Netflix slid in to scoop up the film. That’s right, Don’t Look Up will be a Netflix film. It’s yet another instance of Netflix picking up what other studios put down. They’re not afraid of hefty budgets, not at all. They’ll spend whatever they have to to continually build their catalogue of A-list entertainment.
They’ve given Don’t Look Up a pretty tight timetable too. The film is supposedly set to start shooting in April, with Netflix planning to release the picture this year. So Netflix not only wants Don’t Look Up but they want Don’t Look Up, like, now. I can’t say that I blame them, the film is McKay’s follow-up to Vice, which nabbed multiple Oscar nominations and generated an impressive box office haul. Also perhaps the film will play well during election season since it’ll definitely touch upon politics, given the subject matter and director. It’s no surprise that Netflix wants this movie very, very soon.