The Big Short (2015)

The Big Short (2015)

Director: Adam McKay

Plot Synopsis[]

In 2006-2007 a group of investors bet against the US mortgage market. In their research, they discover how flawed and corrupt the market is.

Male Deaths[]

Peter Epstein [Paul Baum]

Female Deaths[]

None

Trivia[]

After Christian Bale met with the real Dr. Michael Burry, he asked to have Burry's cargo shorts and T-shirt, which he then wore in the movie. Bale later said he hoped Burry would make it to the film's L.A. premiere, "because I really want to sit next to him and see if he's going to punch me in the f****** face."
Author Michael Lewis revealed in an interview that Paramount Pictures allowed director and screenwriter Adam McKay to make this film only if he agreed to make a sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).
Lola FX did the special effects for Christian Bale's glass eye in the film. Director Adam McKay did not want it to be too obtrusive since "in reality, you're not that aware of someone's glass eye, except the odd occasion when it doesn't move," so they painstakingly went through every shot to get it just right.
The quotation that appears on screen, "'Truth is like poetry. And most people fucking hate poetry.' - Overheard at a Washington, D.C. bar," was written by director and co-writer Adam McKay, after unsuccessfully searching for the perfect quotation to use for that segment.
The real Michael Burry made a cameo in the film as a Scion employee. At the beginning of the scene in which the fictional Burry's investors confront him at his office, he is briefly shown standing near the front door, talking on the phone.
Jeffry Griffin was an extra on set for the day. He was pulled out of the crowd to play Jared Vennett's assistant, Chris. Later, his role was expanded to two weeks of filming, sharing every scene with Ryan Gosling.
The character Mark Baum was based on real-life money manager Steve Eisman. Jared Vennett was based on real-life trader Greg Lippmann. Ben Rickert was based on Ben Hockett. Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley were based on Charlie Ledley and Jamie Mai.
Margot Robbie claimed that she was drinking real 20-year-old Dom Perignon champagne during her scene in the bathtub, adding that the only challenge was that she did have to read her lines from memory.
Michael Burry named his hedge fund company Scion Capital after a favorite childhood book, "The Scions of Shannara." Christian Bale is seen reading that book in one of his first scenes in the movie.
In the special features of the Blu-ray, director Adam McKay revealed that he wrote the role of Jared Vannett only with Ryan Gosling in mind.
Christian Bale met with the man he's portraying in the film, Michael Burry, to research the role. What was supposed to be an hour meeting turned into nine hours.
The production crew recreated the offices of failed investment firm Lehman Brothers in the lobby of the New York State Department of Financial Services in Manhattan.
This was the second film based on a Michael Lewis book that Brad Pitt produced and appeared in. The first was Moneyball (2011).