Early this week Deadline broke the news that director Adam McKay had left “Average Height, Average Build” for a climate change project.
McKay, who has been outspoken about the threat of global warming, is deciding to make his next directorial project a climate-related one. Insiders add that with that project now getting all of McKay’s attention, he will no longer be directing the Netflix movie “Average Height, Average Build” and the film will no longer be moving forward.
“Average Height, Average Build” was announced on March 24, 2023, as a darkly comedic political satire. An exceptional cast would be present in the film that included Robert Pattinson as the killer with Academy Award nominee Amy Adams (who collaborated with McKay on the Oscar-nominated movie Vice) joining him as the lobbyist. Academy Award nominee Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) playing the retired officer desperate to catch Pattinson's killer. Also featuring in as-yet-unnamed roles are Academy Award nominee Forest Whitaker (Black Panther), and Danielle Deadwyler (The Harder They Fall).
In late April 2023, it was officially announced that “Average Height, Average Build” had been acquired by streaming giant Netflix. The platform of McKay’s previous record-breaking movie “Don't Look Up”, which quickly rose to Netflix's second-most-popular movie of all time across the globe – but the streamer won’t make the project without McKay’s involvement behind the camera, sources confirmed to Variety. Therefore, with McKay no longer involved, there is no plan to find a replacement and move forward with the film. Instead, the writer and director will reportedly focus on a movie about climate change, a topic that seems about as ripe for laughs as murderers.
However, McKay has not just used his work to talk about the climate change emergency over the years (see 2021’s Don’t Look Up) but also has been active outside the industry to get the word out about the threat. Earlier this year he launched the nonprofit Yellow Dot Studios to make videos and other materials aimed at raising public understanding of the climate emergency and related issues, following the viral success of his spoof Chevron ad last September that had more than 4.5 million views in its first 24 hours. Netflix could not be reached for comment now. No other plot details are known, and no other talent attachments are involved with the climate project currently.
/Alice Sagripanti
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