You won’t be getting any “Anchorman” sequels for a while.
Oscar-nominated director Adam McKay told TheWrap that he can’t envision making more “absurdist” comedies after he took on the housing market crisis in “The Big Short.”
“I don’t know that I’ll ever make a broad, absurdist comedy that way that I have done in the past,” McKay told TheWrap founder and CEO Sharon Waxman during a recent sit-down about his star-studded dramedy.
“Suddenly those subjects where you’re showing up on set everyday and you’re living in a story while you’re making a movie — [it becomes] very exciting to me. But six months from now, I could think of the funniest idea in the world and say, ‘To hell with it, I’m doing this.’”
McKay proved his knack for bringing humor to devastating social problems, and the topics he’d like to tackle next are climate change and gun control.
“Without exaggerating, the biggest story in the history of mankind is climate change… it’s literally an extinction level event. I’ve read all the science, I’m certainly a dubious guy who doesn’t take things at face value. I’ve talked to scientists, I just can’t see how it’s not 100 percent correct. And you’re starting to see the change come, and it seems to be every estimate they have is getting worse and worse,” McKay said.
“It’s very scientific, it’s very abstract, it’s a giant bummer, no one wants to talk about it. So I’m kind of kicking it around: ‘Is there a way to make a movie that’s really alive?’”
McKay also spoke highly of Gus Van Sant‘s 2003 school shooting drama “Elephant,” which he thought bravely and accurately tackled American gun culture.
“Certainly there’s a way to focus on character and emotion,” McKay said. “What’s the way to do it without making us feel crappy and dark?”