Adam McKay directing, writing ‘The Big Short: The Doomsday Machine’

Former SNL head writer Adam McKay has announced that he is writing and directing an adaptation of the Michael Lewis best-seller, The Big Short: The Doomsday Machine.

Paramount Pictures will be producing the new film with Plan B, Brad Pitt’s production company. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Plan B said in a statement, "There are those rare literary treasures -- as withThe Big Short-- that park in the harbor and you just wait, with hope. Adam McKay is a singular voice and talent and a ferocious mind. The vector of Adam and this book is what a producer dreams of."

According to the Associated Press, McKay said in a statement that he and Plan B spoke about the “breathless quality” of the Lewis 2010 book about the housing market bubble. McKay also said that he thought that the Michael Lewis has the ability to “take complex formulas and concepts and turn them into page-turners.”

McKay’s previous works include the popular Anchorman films, as well as Talledaga Nights and Step Brothers. McKay has recently worked with Plan B on the film, Moneyball.