Adam McKay’s next project is shaping up to be nothing like his new Netflix disaster satire movie Don’t Look Up. After successfully moving into slightly satirical biopics like The Big Short and Vice, McKay returned to comedy with Don’t Look Up, though the film’s cynical story of an impending world-ending event definitely gets under the audience’s skin. Featuring an all-star ensemble cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, and even Ariana Grande, Don’t Look Up is shaping up to be one of the most popular movies of the holiday season.
A counterpoint to Aaron Sorkin, Adam McKay began his career as a director making laugh-out-loud comedies like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. More recently, McKay’s movies have become more targeted and angry. He explored the greed of Wall Street bankers in The Big Short, the power-hungry madness of former Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice, and the insanity of climate-denial in Don’t Look Up.
McKay’s next release, however, will be something different entirely. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty is an upcoming series for HBO Max about the legendary Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s. McKay maintains his signature ensemble cast of talent (John C. Reilly, Jason Clarke, Adrien Brody, Quincy Isaiah, Sally Field, and Jason Segel to name just a few), but the anger that has defined McKay’s most recent movies like Don’t Look Up (along with his skewering of capitalism) won’t be there. Instead, Winning Time will be a celebration of the beloved basketball team and NBA dynasty.
Adam McKay is one of Hollywood’s great comedic geniuses, and it’s very exciting to see him working on a story that isn’t quite as cynical as his recent work. Movies like Don’t Look Up absolutely show a side of McKay that deserves to be seen, but McKay has spent nearly 10 years inside of the dark world of American excess in all its forms. Life isn’t all about injustice, grievance, and corruption and it’s the perfect time for a break from all that. He deserves to have some fun, and so do the people who watch his movies. Adam McKay’s movies are some of the funniest comedies ever made (Step Brothers, for example, is a modern classic). If the world needs one thing in 2022, it’s laughter.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers is sure to be a celebration of a great American pastime, and one of its most revered teams. That’s quite different from the dark satire of Don’t Look Up, but that’s a good thing. The best storytellers are never limited to one style, and Adam McKay proves himself to be one of them with every movie he makes.
