Here are more photos from the Jolie-Pitt family’s big LAX trip over the weekend. Apparently, the family has decamped to France, possibly for the summer. They took a flight from LAX to Paris, then another flight from Paris to Nice. They apparently flew coach on AirFrance on the Paris-to-Nice leg of the trip. According to all of the eyewitnesses, the kids were well-behaved throughout. No tantrums, no diva ‘tudes, no drama. Honestly, all of those kids have flown internationally since they were babies. They know the drill at this point. Still, it’s nice to note when celebrity children are NOT little d-bags.
Angelina Jolie seems to truly have the summer off – she has no projects on the horizon, to act in or direct, although I’m sure she’s still in post-production for By the Sea. I’m assuming Brad has completed his part in The Big Short (an ensemble film), and he won’t film World War Z 2 until later this year or maybe even 2016. Meanwhile, Deadline just announced that one of Brad’s upcoming projects, the film adaptation of Michael Hastings’ book The Operators, will be heading to Netflix. You heard that correctly.
Netflix has acquired distribution rights to War Machine, the David Michod-directed drama which will star Brad Pitt as a four-star rock star U.S. military general. The character is patterned after Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for a time the commanding general of international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The film is a satirical comedy inspired by the bestselling book The Operators: The Wild And Terrifying Inside Story Of America’s War In Afghanistan, by the late journalist Michael Hastings. Script was written by Michod, whose credits include Animal Kingdom and The Rover. Pitt and his Plan B cohorts Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce with Ian Bryce.
This picture package was on Deadline’s list of his Cannes titles, but Pitt and his reps have for several weeks been down the road with Ted Sarandos and his Netflix cohorts on an alternative strategy. With this deal, Sarandos has an opportunity to make the kind of seismic move in features as he did with TV series like House Of Cards. This will be the biggest investment Netflix will have made so far in a feature film, in the $30 million range. It is also the first time Netflix has really gotten hold of a film with one of the biggest global A-list movie stars, in his prime, along with his producing cohorts whose recent credits include Best Picture winner 12 Years A Slave and Best Picture nominee Selma.
Plan B acquired the Hastings book last year and originally it seemed like a straight nonfiction film. It has instead been turned into a fictionalized satire. The book captured McChrystal in his cocky glory, and focused on the backrooms and politics of war and the high-stakes maneuvers and political firestorm that shook the country. Hastings, who followed McChrystal around Europe and Afghanistan for a month in 2010 for a Rolling Stone article, quoted the general badmouthing the White House and its handling of the war. That proved to be his undoing; after Rolling Stone published the article “The Runaway General,” McChrystal was ordered back to D.C. by President Obama, and McChrystal tendered his resignation there.
Said Pitt: We are so excited to be a part of the inspiring commitment by Netflix to produce cutting-edge content and to deliver it to a global audience.”
[From Deadline]
Deadline has more analysis of why this is such an unusual and interesting move – apparently, there will still be a limited theatrical release or something like that, just in case the movie is really great and they want to wage an Oscar campaign, but they’re expecting the bulk of the viewership to come from Netflix streaming. As for the story… it sounds interesting. I covered it when Brad signed on to the film, and I still think it’s a really bold move for Brad as an actor.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
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