'The Big Short' film draws Hollywood heavy hitters

Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling will star in a film version of The Big Short, Michael Lewis's book about investors who made fortunes in the subprime mortgage crisis, a person with knowledge of the matter revealed.

Pitt's company, Plan B, will produce the picture, said the person, who wasn't authorised to speak publicly and requested anonymity. The film will test the public's appetite for financial-market drama. "Expectations are instantly high on this one, both commercially and artistically," said Phil Contrino, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. "The Wolf of Wall Street proved that this type of film can make a lot of money."

Katie Martin Kelley, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles-based Paramount, declined to comment on the casting. Variety reported the actors were attached to the project yesterday.

Adam McKay, who often works with Will Ferrell, will write the screenplay and direct, his spokesman and the studio confirmed. Two books by Lewis have been turned into feature films: Moneyball, about the Oakland Athletics baseball team, and The Blind Side, featuring Sandra Bullock in 2009.

Several producers have brought financial-market stories to cinemas since the 2008 crisis. Wolf of Wall Street brought in $392 million in worldwide sales for theatres and Paramount after its release in December 2013.

The film, based on real life trader Jordan Belfort, was nominated for five Academy Awards last year. Another Lewis book, Flash Boys, about high frequency traders, is in development at Sony.

The book behind the film

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine follows a group of investors who bet against the residential subprime mortgage market before it collapsed.

Written with an ringside view of how the financial industry works, the book became an instant classic at a time when ordinary people were still trying to make sense of the greatest economic challenge since The Great Depression.

The book was published in 2010 and spent more than 28 weeks on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list.