An HBO production in association with Spring Creek Productions, a film by Curtis Hanson, "Too Big Too Fail" is based on Andrew Ross Sorkin's best-selling book of the same name. Directed by Oscar-winner Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential") and debuting in May, the film offers an intimate looks at the epochal Wall Street financial crisis of 2008 and explores the inner sanctum of the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world's economy in a matter of a few weeks. Centering on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the film goes behind closed doors to examine the symbiotic relationship between Wall Street and Washington.

The film's stellar cast includes stars Oscar-winner William Hurt ("Kiss of the Spider Woman"), seven-time Emmy-winner Ed Asner ("Up"), Billy Crudup ("Eat, Pray, Love"), Emmy-winner Paul Giamatti (HBO's "John Adams"), Topher Grace ("Spider-Man 3"), Matthew Modine ("Weeds"), two-time Emmy-winner Cynthia Nixon (HBO's "Sex and the City"), Michael O'Keefe ("Michael Clayton"), Bill Pullman ("While You Were Sleeping"), three-time Emmy-winner Tony Shalhoub ("Monk") and two-time Emmy-winner James Woods (HBO's "Citizen Cohn"). Ayad Akhtar, three-time Emmy-winner Kathy Baker ("Picket Fences"), Evan Handler ("HBO's "Sex and the City"), John Heard ("Prison Break"), Dan Hedaya ("E.R.") and Joey Slotnick ("Nip/Tuck") co-star.



Curtis Hanson also serves as executive producer along with Emmy winner Paula Weinstein (HBO's "Recount") and Jeffrey Levine; co-executive producer is Carol Fenelon ("8 Mile"); and Ezra Swerdlow ("Enchanted") produces. The script is by Peter Gould ("Breaking Bad"), based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

New York Times journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin is a consultant on "Too Big to Fail." Journalists Bethany McLean (Vanity Fair) and Joe Nocera (New York Times), co-authors of "All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis," are also consultants on the film.

The film was shot on location in New York and Washington, D.C.

The cast brings to life the following real people (positions noted are at the time of the film in 2008):

William Hurt – Henry "Hank" Paulson, 74th Treasury Secretary and former CEO of Goldman Sachs

Ayad Akhtar – Neel Kashkari, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs

Ed Asner – Warren Buffet, primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Kathy Baker – Wendy Paulson, Henry Paulson's wife

Billy Crudup – Timothy Geithner, president and CEO of the New York Federal Reserve Bank

Paul Giamatti – Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve

Topher Grace – Jim Wilkinson, Henry Paulson's chief of staff

Evan Handler – Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs

John Heard – Joe Gregory, president of Lehman Brothers

Dan Hedaya – Barney Frank, Democratic congressman from Massachusetts

Matthew Modine – John Thain, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch

Cynthia Nixon – Michele Davis, Henry Paulson's communications director

Michael O'Keefe – Chris Flowers, a private equity investor and bank takeover expert

Bill Pullman – Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase

Tony Shalhoub – John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley

Joey Slotnick – Dan Jester, a retired Goldman Sachs banker and newly appointed Paulson advisor

James Woods – Dick Fuld, Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2008