Deadline is reporting that The Big Short‘s Adam McKay has found a new project to work on. He will produce Crook County, a film based on the true events of Terrance Hake and the FBI’s biggest corruption sting in America’s history. The script has been written by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, who will also direct, with Brooklyn‘s Emory Cohen starring as Hake. McKay will produce with Treehouse Pictures.
The film takes place in 1980s Chicago as Terrence Hake, a young lawyer, was recruited into the FBI’s Operation: Greylord, an investigation into Cook County’s corrupt judiciary system. With their help, Hake posed as a corrupt prosecutor and then a criminal defence attorney to bribe others to get his clients off a charge. To achieve this, the agency also employed hundreds of agents to pose as criminals. By the end of the operation, nearly 100 government officials and members of the judiciary system were arrested for corruption. Production will begin later this year in Pittsburgh.
McKay spoke about his desire to be a part of the project and the decision to have Gaudet and Pullapilly directing: “Aron and Gita are two of the most passionate and committed filmmakers I have ever met. They’ve written a script about systemic corruption and justice that will be very relevant to the times we’re living in.”
Treehouse’s Justin Nappi, who will act as a producer, also commented on the company’s procurement of the script: “As soon as I read the script, I knew that Crook County needed to be made, not only to shine a light on issues that can plague our criminal justice system, but also to show how one individual’s actions can be instrumental in changing the entire system for the better. Given Adam’s track record with this sort of material, I can’t think of anyone better suited to help shepherd this project.”
Gaudet and Pullapilly have previously written and directed Beneath the Harvest Sky and the documentary The Way We Get By. Cohen can be seen in Netflix’s The OA and their upcoming film War Machine. McKay, meanwhile, will be directing a biopic on infamous U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.
Originally published January 19, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
