'Don't Look Up': Adam McKay reveals inspiration behind Netflix sci-fi comedy
2021 is coming to an end and it is fitting that we end the year with a movie that’s on everybody’s watchlist. Yes, we are talking about Netflix’s blockbuster movie ‘Don’t Look Up’. The movie garnered a lot of buzz since its announcement. The involvement of Jennifer Lawrence made everyone happy and excited.
However, when the makers announced that stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, and Tyler Perry will also be making an appearance in the movie, the excitement level went off the roof. The movie revolves around an astronomy professor Dr. Randall Mindy (DiCaprio) and his student Kate Dibiasky (Lawrence) trying to tell the world about an astounding discovery they have made. According to them, a large asteroid is on course to hit the Earth. However, the problem is that no one cares about it, including the President. The pair goes through a lot of ups and downs to make everyone believe that the upcoming threat is dangerous and a disaster is just waiting around the corner. Will they be able to get the whole world to look up?
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The premise of the movie is really interesting and kind of represents what’s happening in the world nowadays. So, it was not easy for filmmaker Adam McKay to come forward with a story like this. ‘Don’t Look Up’ has the potential of being a riveting film on one hand. On the other, the movie might sting some people because of how real the problem looks in the movie. Talking about the movie and what inspired him to make a movie like that, Academy Award-winning director Adam McKay said that the first draft of the movie wasn’t “comedic” at all.
“Surprisingly, the first few drafts of ‘Don’t Look Up’ weren’t comedic! I played with the idea at first of making a straightforward drama or a small, intimate character study, but at a certain point I knew I needed to make a comedy because I felt like after these last few years, we really, really needed to laugh,” McKay told Netflix.
Meanwhile, talking about the inspiration behind the movie, ‘The Big Short’ helmer revealed that a book he read in 2019 was the reason that he decided to make the movie. The book, ‘The Unthinkable Earth’ by David Wallace-Wells, tells the story of how Global Warming is more dangerous than any other threat and it will wreak havoc if immediate steps are not taken.
“I read a book in 2019 called The Uninhabitable Earth that I couldn’t get out of my head. It depicts the ways in which global warming will wreak havoc on the planet if nothing is done to combat the climate crisis. And, it all boiled down to this idea I just couldn’t shake: We all know how to react when there is a killer with an ax, or when your house is on fire, but what the author David Wallace-Wells was writing about was a million times worse. How do we get people to realize this is a clear and present danger? How close does that danger have to be for us to have the proper response? I felt like I needed to write this script,” said McKay.
The filmmaker also admitted that he loves depicting the “giant threats” that humans face, but in a “fun way”. The upcoming Netflix movie is finally with funny situations and how two people are trying to convince the world that the whole planet can be wiped off if the asteroid hits earth, but no one takes them seriously. It also shows how politicians, journalists, and other people take these threats for granted and something happens, only innocent people lose their lives.
‘Don’t Look Up’ will be available for streaming on Netflix on Friday, December 24.