December sees two Louisiana-shot movies being released in theaters. First up is The Big Short, a dramatic thriller based on New Orleans native Michael Lewis’s best-selling exposé of high finance and the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s. A group of Wall Street outsiders predict the collapse and plan to profit from it. The movie stars Brad Pitt (who also produced), Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei and Steve Carell. It’s directed by Adam McKay, who is known primarily for comedies like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and The Other Guys. The Big Short is scheduled to open in limited release on December 11, then wide on December 23.
Speaking of Adam McKay, he is one of the producers of the comedy Daddy's Home, in which Will Ferrell stars as an uptight executive who competes for the respect of his stepchildren when their blue-collar biker father (Mark Wahlberg) shows up. You may remember that, early in the year, local news stations covered a scene for Daddy’s Home being shot during the intermission at a Pelicans game wherein Ferrell’s character accidentally hits a cheerleader in the face with a basketball. Daddy’s Home opens on Christmas Day.
