Caffeinated Clint
Drops out of “State of Play” movie
Brad Pitt is out of “State of Play,” a development that has put that star-studded Universal Pictures drama in a state of flux, and has put studio and star on opposite sides of who caused his exit, says Variety.
Pitt ankled the film early Wednesday, following two weeks of struggle and meetings with director Kevin Macdonald that prevented the film from making its original November 15 production start date. The studio considers Pitt to have walked out of a pay or play commitment, and is leaving open the option to sue him if the picture cannot be recast in time to keep the other actors in place.
The studio has already begun trying to replace Pitt. But while strike-related production postponements on films like “Angels & Demons” and “Shantaram” made stars like Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp suddenly available, Universal has a very small window to work with. If the studio doesn’t recast and begin production in L.A. and D.C., it will begin losing other cast.
Pitt was set to star with Edward Norton, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Robin Wright Penn. Mirren had a stop date so that she can film “Love Ranch” with her husband, director Taylor Hackford, and Joe Pesci early next year.
Pitt’s camp disputes that he violated a pay or play deal, that he ever approved a final script, or that he even wanted to drop out of the film that he has been the driving force behind for 16 months. At issue is a disagreement with the studio over the final direction of the shooting script.
