While the new movie by Malvern native Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up, focuses on an extinction-level event, his main goal while creating the star-studded feature was to make everybody laugh, writes Gary Thompson for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

McKay had climate change on his mind when he wrote the script for the movie three years ago, but he decided to take a more light-hearted approach to this heavy subject.

“Look, if the world heats up four degrees Celsius, it’s just jellyfish and cockroaches, and maybe not even cockroaches,” he said. “I felt like I wanted to do something about this, but how do I do it? I had no interest in making a big, heavy, dystopic, depressing movie. And for some reason I was thinking, you know, it would be nice to laugh.”

The film focuses on two scientists, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who discover an asteroid that will hit earth in six months. However, they have trouble getting anybody to take notice, including the White House.

McKay’s current project is a nonfiction series about the rise of the Lakers dynasty and their rivalry with the Celtics.

Read more about Adam McKay and his new movie in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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