This New Netflix Comedy Just May Have The Most Star-Studded Cast Ever

Ever since Netflix began making original TV series with House of Cards, the streamer has had its eye on the bigger picture. Oscar-bait films first started arriving in 2015, but it wasn't until 2017's 13th that the streamer began to make a dent in the major award categories. In 2018, Mudbound broke records with its wins, and in 2019, Roma was the winner of the night, even though it lost Best Picture. Now, the streamer is going all-in on its latest film, as Netflix's Don't Look Up cast is so stuffed with A-list talent, it's almost unseemly.

The coronavirus pandemic has put streaming services front and center this year of an Oscars that will be unlike any in movie history. But this shift isn't just affecting the current award season lineup. Actors want to go where the eyeballs are and where the money is, and right now, that's Netflix.

Director Adam McKay, the man behind such big-screen critical darlings as The Big Short and Vice, has taken his latest project to Netflix instead of a traditional production company. The film is expected to have the sort of semi-satirical bent on modern-day events, though unlike The Big Short and Vice (based on real people and real events), this story is fictionalized: Two scientists discover an asteroid is bound for Earth, but politicians and presidents declare it "fake news." Despite a tour begging people to listen, no one believes them.

But the real reason everyone is going to tune in is this cast.

To call this cast stacked is an understatement. Meryl Streep has 19 Academy Award nominations alone and two wins. DiCaprio and Lawrence each have one win; Blanchett has two. Hill and Chalamet have both been nominated, and one assumes Rob Morgan (Mudbound), Himesh Patel (Yesterday), Matthew Perry (Friends), and Tomer Sisley (Messiah) are hoping to join them with this project. Kid Cudi and Ariana Grande could be in line to place a couple next to their Grammys.

Filming for the project is scheduled to begin before 2020 is over. Don't Look Up does not yet have a premiere date, but it's safe to assume it will arrive next year, tied to the 2021 Oscar race, of course.