Adam McKay to Produce January 6 Film ‘J6’ to Follow ‘Don’t Look Up,’ Dude Loves Controversy

Adam McKay is about to go further down the political rabbit hole. After starting his career as a comedy director, McKay has officially transitioned to a full-time satirist. His most recent film, Don’t Look Up, serves as an on-the-nose metaphor for climate change. Although Mckay is in the Oscar conversation for his Netflix debut, the film has also been controversial. Nevertheless, it seems as if the Vice filmmaker is setting his sights on that Best Picture award with his latest project.

According to Deadline, McKay is set to produce J6, a comically-titled film about the very serious January 6th terrorist attack on the US capital. Billy Ray (not of the Cyrus variety) is set to direct from a script that he also wrote, which chronicles the events of the attack on the capital that fateful day. The film, which was originally intended to be a limited series, transformed into a feature film after Ray watched the HBO documentary Q: Into the Storm.

Fortunately for audiences, The Comey Rule director isn’t interested in rehashing the Trump presidency. “The goal was to do a ground-level view of a momentous day,” said Ray. “It’s about protesters who became rioters and cops who became defenders of democracy. Someone else can tell the story of the chaos at the White House on that day. I wanted to stay in the trenches.”

Apparently, Ray interviewed various members of congress days after the attack for J6, as well as various capital police officers whose memories were still “raw and fresh”. According to McKay, “Billy has written a screenplay that is not only harrowing and terrifying but is sure to become the definitive cinematic document on that gut-wrenching day.” While this may be true, it also begs the question: are we even ready for this movie? 

The answer is probably not, especially because we don’t really have answers yet. It’s like the equivalent of making a film about Watergate before the investigation has even concluded. Our democracy may be under attack, but J6 proves that the battle for the 2024 Best Picture has already begun.

Cover Photo: Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images