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53-814: Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. McKay began his career as a head writer for the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) from 1995 to 2001. Following his departure from SNL , he rose to fame in the 2000s for his collaborations with comedian Will Ferrell and co-wrote his comedy films Anchorman (2004), Talladega Nights (2006), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). Ferrell and McKay later co-wrote and co-produced many television series and films, with McKay himself co-producing their website Funny or Die through their company, Gary Sanchez Productions . McKay began venturing into more dramatic territory in
106-468: A music video , "Boats 'N Hoes", which they filmed on Robert's boat without his knowledge. The presentation backfires when the video shows the boat crashing, shattering Robert and Nancy's sailing dreams and straining their marriage. On Christmas , Robert and Nancy announce they are getting divorced, upsetting Brennan and Dale, who blame each other. Brennan and Dale go their separate ways, live independently and gradually become functioning adults. Brennan gets
159-451: A sequel . Reilly had the idea. In 2008, McKay was interviewed about a possible sequel, and said: We're kicking around the idea of Step Brothers 2 . We feel like there's way more fat to be mined there. While it is not quite the legend that Anchorman is, it has built kind of a nice following. We think it could be a pretty fun one. He added that Ferrell and Reilly's characters would be mature and have jobs. "One of them's married and has
212-459: A fight erupts between them. They are grounded with no television for a week and are ordered to find jobs within a month or be evicted. When Brennan's arrogant classist younger brother Derek, a successful helicopter leasing agent, visits with his family, he openly ridicules Dale and Brennan, and Dale punches him in the face. Brennan is awed that Dale stood up to Derek, while Derek's discontented wife Alice finds Dale's courage attractive, and begins
265-564: A job at Derek's helicopter leasing firm and volunteers to oversee a prestigious event, the Catalina Wine Mixer. He hires the catering company that employs Dale and invites Robert and Nancy to attend. The party goes well until the lead singer of the hired Billy Joel cover band loses his temper with a heckler and is hustled away. Derek blames Brennan for the fiasco and fires him. Robert encourages Brennan and Dale to be their eccentric child-at-heart selves again and perform to save
318-433: A kid. They're still kind of goofballs but they've taken three or four steps. Then we have an idea for something happens that knocks him back to square one, and one of the brothers, John C. Reilly sort of instigates it, like 'we can't take this anymore.' And things go really bad, their lives kind of fall apart. They have to pull it back together is sort of the basic structure." McKay has also said that ideas that were not used in
371-610: A little unclean". Ty Burr in the Boston Globe wrote, "'Step Brothers' is crudely funny, which means that sometimes it's crudely hilarious and more often it's just crude." Variety critic John Anderson wrote, "the film is funny at times but lapses into the reflexive vulgarity that seems to be the default mechanism of the Apatow machinery." In the British Film Institute 's 2012 Sight & Sound polls of
424-520: A second video titled Good Cop, Baby Cop . From November 2015 until October 2016, McKay hosted the science/comedy podcast Surprisingly Awesome with Adam Davidson , produced by Gimlet Media . McKay additionally produced Broken: Jeffrey Epstein and Broken: Seeking Justice , a podcast series that explored the Jeffrey Epstein case. His next podcast project, Death at the Wing , investigated
477-529: A series of deaths among high-profile young basketball players in the 1980s and 1990s. In February 2022, he appeared as a guest on Smartless , a comedic podcast hosted by Jason Bateman , Will Arnett and Sean Hayes . In 2023, he hosted Death on the Lot about celebrity deaths in Hollywood in the 1950s. In 1999, he married Shira Piven , a film and television director. They have two daughters. His brother-in-law
530-443: A sexual affair with him, unbeknownst to Derek. Brennan and Dale bond over their shared tastes and interests, particularly music. Brennan had given up singing after Derek and his friends jeered his performance in a school musical. Robert, meanwhile, schedules several job interviews for them, but they perform poorly and then are attacked on their way home by school children. Robert and Nancy reveal that with Derek's help they plan to sell
583-409: A special high backed chair to accommodate his disability. In 2018, McKay had a heart attack while filming Vice , starring Christian Bale , whose character Dick Cheney has multiple heart attacks in the film. The director credits his awareness of the issue from researching the film with his quick response that got him to the hospital before he incurred any permanent damage. During an interview on
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#1732781068074636-423: A successful entertainment company that owns six karaoke bars and two karaoke restaurants. As a Christmas surprise, Robert has turned his boat into a tree house for Brennan and Dale to play in, complete with hats and masks. Denise, who has come to the dinner with Brennan, admires the way he looks in a pirate hat. During the ending credits, Dale and Brennan exact their revenge on the schoolyard bullies. Step Brothers
689-438: A total of $ 128,107,642. Step Brothers received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval rating of 55% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads, " Step Brothers indulges in a cheerfully relentless immaturity that will quickly turn off viewers unamused by Ferrell and Reilly -- and delight those who find their antics hilarious." On Metacritic ,
742-562: A waitress, and his father, a musician. When McKay was seven his parents divorced. He attended Great Valley High School in Malvern, where he graduated in 1986. He then attended Penn State University for a year prior to transferring to Temple University , where he majored in English . McKay dropped out of Temple a semester-and-a-half before he was set to earn his bachelor's degree. He described it as "settling with an imaginary degree". McKay
795-505: Is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Adam McKay , produced by Jimmy Miller and Judd Apatow , and written by Will Ferrell and McKay from a story by Ferrell, McKay, and John C. Reilly . It follows Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly), two grown men who are forced to live together as brothers after their single parents, with whom they still live, marry each other. Richard Jenkins , Mary Steenburgen , Adam Scott , and Kathryn Hahn also star. Ferrell notably sings " Por Ti Volaré " during
848-617: Is a prominent voice for climate action . In 2022, he donated $ 4 million to the Climate Emergency Fund and joined its board of directors. He has also donated to Just Stop Oil . In 2023, McKay founded Yellow Dot Studios to raise awareness and mobilize action on the Climate Emergency. The non-profit company produces videos and campaigns to tackle the misinformation promoted by the oil industry. He has spoken prominently about his experience with climate anxiety and
901-555: Is actor Jeremy Piven . McKay supports gun control and abortion rights . He has been critical of former President Bill Clinton . "I legitimately think Bill Clinton is one of the worst presidents in the modern age". McKay criticized Clinton for deregulating banks and for his personal life in light of the MeToo movement . McKay serves on the Creative Council of RepresentUs , a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization. He
954-528: Is considered a companion to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) entitled Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004), which is made up mostly of alternative takes, deleted scenes, and scrapped sub-plots from the original film strung together with a narrative. McKay directed and co-wrote with Ferrell the George W. Bush Broadway show You're Welcome America . He produced the horror -action film Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters . McKay directed
1007-521: Is one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv comedy group and a former performer at Chicago's ImprovOlympic , where he was a member of the improv group, The Family, whose members included Matt Besser , Ian Roberts , Neil Flynn , Miles Stroth, and Ali Farahnakian , as well as Child's Play Touring Theatre . McKay originally auditioned for Saturday Night Live to be an onscreen performer, but did not make
1060-538: The HBO series Eastbound & Down . McKay was one of the writers for the film The Campaign (2012), and produced the film Daddy's Home (2015), the latter of which reunited The Other Guys stars Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg , and was directed by Sean Anders . McKay also rewrote the script for the Marvel Studios feature film Ant-Man , directed by Peyton Reed ; McKay had initially been in talks to direct
1113-516: The K-Swiss commercial, Kenny Powers: The K-Swiss MFCEO (2011), starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers from Eastbound & Down , which he co-produces with Ferrell and has also directed an episode of. He directed and wrote the film adaptation of the Michael Lewis non-fiction book The Big Short , about the financial and subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008 , and the build-up of
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#17327810680741166-506: The satirical black comedy Don't Look Up , about two low level scientists trying to convince the world that a catastrophic comet is coming. McKay wrote the script and produced the film for Netflix . Jennifer Lawrence , Leonardo DiCaprio , Jonah Hill , Rob Morgan , Tyler Perry , Meryl Streep , and Cate Blanchett star in the film. It received a limited theatrical release in December 2021, before streaming on Netflix later in
1219-749: The 2010s. He wrote and directed the satirical films The Big Short (2015), Vice (2018), and Don't Look Up (2021). For each film, McKay received several nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture , Best Director , and for the scripts in both the Adapted and Original screenplay categories. In 2019, McKay founded the production company Hyperobject Industries . McKay was born in Denver, Colorado , and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts and later Malvern, Pennsylvania by his mother, Sarah,
1272-700: The 347th episode of The Empire Film Podcast , McKay said: "Either Christian Bale or Dick Cheney just saved my life." Producer only Executive producer only Executive producer only Acting roles Directed Academy Award performances Head writer Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 559897510 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:04:28 GMT Step Brothers (film) Step Brothers
1325-802: The Democrats, who went along with the war in Iraq...I made mistakes, read the reviews and went, 'Yes, fair,'" he told Variety in March 2022. In October 2023, McKay signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to US president Joe Biden , calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. In a November 6, 2024 post on X, he wrote: “It is time to abandon the Dem Party. I’m registering Green Party or Working Families. But am open to ideas.” McKay
1378-485: The TV movie documentary Lifecasters (2013). He has directed a number of short films, including digital shorts for Saturday Night Live , and the short video "Good Cop, Baby Cop" for Funny or Die that stars his daughter Pearl. Among the other short films he has directed include The Procedure (2007) starring Will Ferrell , Willem Dafoe , and Andy Richter , Green Team (2008) starring Ferrell, John C. Reilly , and himself, and
1431-404: The TV series Big Lake and Succession , whose pilot he directed, and the miniseries The Spoils of Babylon , and The Chris Gethard Show . In April 2019, McKay and Ferrell announced that they were separating as producing partners but would continue producing all projects currently in development or in production at Gary Sanchez Productions. It was later revealed the reason for the split
1484-432: The cut. However, the scripts he submitted earned him a job as a writer in 1995. Within a year, McKay became head writer at age 27, a position he held until 2001. He also directed a number of short films for the show, including the original SNL Digital Shorts . McKay encouraged his Second City friend Tina Fey to submit some of her scripts to Saturday Night Live , and she later succeeded him as head writer. Though McKay
1537-424: The door was still open for a Step Brothers sequel at some point, while making clear it wasn't a short-term development priority, stating: We have a whole story [for Step Brothers 2 ], an outline that we're happy with. We were ready to go, and you know the story of [how] we got the call on Anchorman 2 . We're not gonna do it now 'cause we just did a sequel, I don't wanna get into the sequel business too much. It
1590-925: The film following Edgar Wright 's departure, but opted not to out of respect for Wright. McKay also worked with Reed, Paul Rudd , Gabriel Ferrari & Andrew Barrer on Ant-Man and the Wasp to flesh out the story. He has also expressed interest in helming a Silver Surfer movie for Marvel Studios . He produced the films Land of the Lost (2009), The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009), The Virginity Hit (2010), Casa de Mi Padre (2012), Bachelorette (2012), Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012), The Campaign (2012), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Tammy (2014), Welcome to Me (2014), Get Hard (2015), Sleeping with Other People (2015), Daddy's Home (2015), and The Boss (2016). In addition to Eastbound & Down , McKay has produced
1643-400: The film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F. Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars and stated, "When did comedies get so mean? Step Brothers has a premise that might have produced a good time at the movies, but when I left, I felt
Adam McKay - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-425: The film was not a real event that existed before or during the creation of the film. The event has since been created and hosted on Catalina Island on Descanso Beach. McKay announced on Twitter in 2011 that production of a Step Brothers rap album featuring Ferrell and Reilly had begun, but later said that the rap album fell apart and will not be released. Over the years, Ferrell and Reilly have talked about
1749-753: The film's climactic scene while Reilly plays drums. The film was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on July 25, 2008, two years after Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby . Both films feature the same main actors, as well as the same producing and writing team. It grossed $ 128.1 million and received mixed reviews. 39-year-old Brennan Huff and 40-year-old Dale Doback are immature adults still living at home. Brennan lives with his divorced mother, Nancy, and Dale lives with his widowed father, Robert. Robert and Nancy meet, fall in love, and marry, forcing Brennan and Dale to live together as step brothers . Brennan and Dale initially despise each other, and after Brennan defies Dale's order not to touch his drum set ,
1802-404: The financial and credit bubble. The film opened in limited release on December 11, 2015, expanded to wide release on December 23, 2015; the film starred Brad Pitt , Christian Bale , Ryan Gosling , and Steve Carell . He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work in the film, winning his first Academy Award in
1855-477: The first film may be used in the sequel. McKay spoke to Empire in February 2014 and appeared to rule out a sequel to Anchorman 2 or Step Brothers saying, "No, that's the last sequel we're gonna do. There's nothing more fun to me than new characters and a new world. And now we're releasing this alt version, we're totally satisfied. No Anchorman 3 ." In a 2014 interview with Collider, McKay indicated
1908-524: The greatest movies ever made, The Snowtown Murders and Macbeth director Justin Kurzel named Step Brothers one of his 10 favorite films. In the movie, Dale and Brennan make a video to pitch both Robert and Derek about investing in Prestige Worldwide, with a music video for a song titled "Boats 'N' Hoes". Since the release of the film, "Boats 'N' Hoes" has contributed to the success of
1961-420: The house, retire and travel the world on Robert's sailboat . They also sign Brennan and Dale up for therapy and set up bank accounts for them to live off of until they find work. Brennan falls in love at first sight with his therapist, Denise, but the attraction is not mutual. At Derek's birthday party, Dale and Brennan present a pitch video for their entertainment company , "Prestige Worldwide", that includes
2014-468: The importance of comedy and humor as tools in addressing the Climate Crisis, while he has also spoken in support of disruptive climate activism. At age 26, McKay first noticed shaking in his hands while performing with Second City . Around 2000, he was diagnosed with essential tremor . The condition causes his body and voice to quiver. He conducts print interviews lying down and televised ones in
2067-480: The latter category. In 2016, he and co-writer Charles Randolph received the USC Scripter Award for their screenplay. In 2016, he became attached to the superhero film Irredeemable based on the comic of the same name by Mark Waid . In November 2016, McKay began development of the biographical black comedy Backseat , about former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his rise to power, though
2120-421: The month. The film received four nominations at the 94th Academy Awards , including Best Picture . McKay was set to work with Jennifer Lawrence for the biographical film Bad Blood , about entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes , and based on the book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup . Originally set to be produced by Legendary Pictures and released by Universal Pictures , in December 2021,
2173-549: The movie with over a million hits on YouTube and merchandise that references the song. A political action committee (PAC) known as the "Boats 'N' Hoes PAC" was registered by Shaun Nowacki with the Texas Ethics Commission in 2014. Nowacki's firm was hired by multiple Republicans in Texas including 48th Texas Governor Greg Abbott , Dan Patrick (who was running for Lieutenant Governor), and Donna Campbell (who
Adam McKay - Misplaced Pages Continue
2226-401: The party. The pair take the stage and Brennan sings " Por Ti Volaré " while Dale accompanies him on drums. Brennan's moving performance brings the extended family back together and entrances Denise. Dale, meanwhile, breaks off his relationship with Alice. Six months later, Robert and Nancy are back together living in their old house, while Brennan and Dale have turned "Prestige Worldwide" into
2279-582: The project was picked up by Apple Studios . In November 2022, however, Lawrence left the project due to not wanting to copy Amanda Seyfried 's performance in The Dropout . The current status of the project is unknown. In March 2023, it was revealed that McKay's next project would be titled Average Height, Average Build , a political satire focused on a serial killer. The film was set to star Robert Pattinson , Amy Adams , Robert Downey Jr. , Forest Whitaker , and Danielle Deadwyler . On April 30, 2023, it
2332-542: The title was eventually changed to Vice . Starring Christian Bale as Cheney, the film was released in the United States on December 25, 2018, by Annapurna Pictures . Despite polarized reviews, Vice received eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards , including the Best Picture and McKay's second nomination for Best Director, and won for Best Make-Up and Hairstyling . In 2020, McKay began working on
2385-483: The track covers "the movie-making process [and] their characters' offscreen lives" in remarks that range "from the inspired to the irritatingly prolonged, but when Ferrell and Reilly really get into a good groove, they're actually funnier than the main feature". Step Brothers was released on 4K Blu-Ray on October 2, 2018. Step Brothers opened in 3,094 theaters and grossed $ 30.9 million. It went on to gross $ 100,468,793 domestically and $ 27,638,849 internationally for
2438-605: Was a supporter of the Democratic Party and endorsed Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in 2016 and again in 2020. He identifies as a democratic socialist and joined the Democratic Socialists of America in 2019. McKay was criticized for going soft on Democrats for their role in the Iraq War in his film Vice , which he later said was a mistake. "I regret not giving more blame to
2491-657: Was an HBO pilot based on Jeff Pearlman's non-fiction book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s . McKay directed the pilot. More recently, McKay's Hyperobject Industries has a first look deal with Apple . McKay has directed, and co-written with Will Ferrell, the films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). He has directed an "alternate film" about Ron Burgundy that
2544-467: Was announced the project had been acquired by Netflix . On December 4, 2023, it was announced that McKay had left the project to pursue a film on climate change, and the project was subsequently scrapped. In 2007, McKay and Ferrell launched the user-submitted comedy video site Funny or Die . A video on the site, titled The Landlord , features both him and his young daughter, Pearl, whom Ferrell and his wife bait to say curse words . Pearl also starred in
2597-593: Was campaigning for State Senator). The purpose of the PAC was never shared and was criticized by Lisa Paul, who served as the Texas Democratic Party Deputy Communications Director. Paul said, "Texas Republicans say they want to reach out to women, to be more inclusive, but actions like this reinforce a pattern of disrespect... Their contempt towards women is simply unforgivable." The Catalina Wine Mixer event depicted in
2650-498: Was due to the fact that McKay cast John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss on the show Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty , a role that Ferrell wanted, without letting Ferrell know. In 2019, McKay launched a new production company, Hyperobject Industries , which has a first look overall television deal with HBO and had a first-look feature deal at Paramount Pictures . Hyperobject Industries' first television project
2703-539: Was kind of a novelty to do one of them and it was certainly very interesting and I had never done anything like it. So I want to go make some original movies—or you know, The Big Short is an adaptation but do some different stuff. But who knows? 2–3 years, 3–4 years. I mean the funny thing with Step Brothers is if those guys are in their 50s it still works, so we could easily return to that, but for now no sequels. In February 2017, Ferrell said in an interview with Rolling Stone that there are currently no plans for
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#17327810680742756-680: Was never an actual SNL cast member, he did make several on-camera appearances over the years and had a recurring role as an obnoxious audience member "Keith" who would often shout insults at the celebrity hosts during their opening monologue. Shortly after leaving SNL , McKay teamed up with comedian Will Ferrell to form production company Gary Sanchez Productions and write the comedy films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), and The Other Guys (2010), all of which he also directed, produced and made cameo appearances in as an actor. Ferrell and McKay co-produced
2809-506: Was released in the United States on July 25, 2008. The film was released for home video on December 2, 2008, in a single-disc rated edition, a single-disc unrated edition and a 2-disc unrated edition. The film generated sales of an estimated 3.87 million units in DVD and Blu-ray, totaling $ 63.7 million. For the home video release, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Adam McKay recorded a commentary track mostly in song, accompanied by Jon Brion ;
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