Following the critical and commercial success of Moneyball, Brad Pitt and his Plan B production company have put together an all-star cast to adapt another of Michael Lewis' bestsellers. Sources tell Variety that Pitt himself will star in The Big Short, alongside Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling.

MoneyballMoneyball, an adaptation of Michael Lewis's book, starred the late Philip Seymour Hoffman

Based on the book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, the movie will tell the story of the build up to the housing and credit bubble during the 2000s that led to the financial crisis in 2007-2010. Adam McKay is adapting the book for the screen.

As in the book, the movie is likely to focus on key people that played a role in creating the disastrous crisis.

Pitt will produce and has been exceptionally keen to get this one to the screen - as he was with 12 Years a Slave and this year's Oscar-tipped movie Selma. 

More: Brad Pitt dismissed from jury duty for being too famous

Bale is one of the world's most talented actors and was last seen in Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings. Before The Big Short, he'll shoot the Travis McGee picture The Deep Blue Goodbye, while Gosling has just wrapped the Warner Bros thriller The Nice Guys.

Moneyball - a 2011 adaptation of Michael Lewis' book about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and their general manager Billy Beane - made over $110 million at the box-office. The film was also nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Actor for Pitt, Best Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill and Best Picture. Pitt won Best Actor at the New York Film Critics Circle awards, while Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin won Best Screenplay.

There is currently no production date for The Big Short. 

More: Ryan Gosling's Lost River canned by Warner Bros (Sort of)