Adam McKay may have shot to prominence as the director of broad studio comedies like Anchorman, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers and The Other Guys, but he’s since moved into dramatic territory and established himself as arguably cinema’s foremost purveyor of biting social satire.
The Big Short and Vice proved to be major awards season players, picking up a combined total of thirteen nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for McKay on both occasions, while he scooped the Best Adapted Screenplay trophy for the former. Based on that success, the idea of the filmmaker tackling a star-studded satirical disaster comedy for Netflix is a massively exciting prospect, although one of his actors recently suffered an injury on the set of Don’t Look Up.
It wasn’t anything too serious, but production was halted for the day after a rigged window explosion during a restaurant scene went wrong, showering Jennifer Lawrence in broken glass. The Academy Award winning actress reportedly required medical attention for a cut above her eye, but she’s expected to be back on the set on Monday after taking the weekend to recuperate and heal.
The story of the pic follows two aspiring astronomers who go on a nationwide media tour to try and warn people that a giant comet with the potential to wipe out humankind is on the way, but nobody takes them seriously. Joining Lawrence in the cast are Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Chris Evans, Ariana Grande, Matthew Perry, Ron Perlman, Tyler Perry and more, which pretty much guarantees that Don’t Look Up is going to boast the most stacked ensemble seen on our screens in 2021.