Paramount Pictures has announced today that one of their next top-shelf projects has locked in Brad Pitt to star with Robert Zemeckis set to direct. A co-op production that also includes GK Films and New Regency, the movie has been described as a “sweeping romantic thriller” based on an original screenplay by Steve Knight.
For the screenwriter, this will no doubt come as welcome news. Knight’s latest theatrical title – Seventh Son – hasn’t exactly lit up the critical barometer nor the box office. The fact that two of the industry’s biggest names, Pitt and Zemeckis, are making one of his scripts is a big deal. After all, he also penned Locke and Eastern Promises, both solid character-based pieces, so this new talented crew ought to steer his newest script back on course.
Aside from the fact that the film is described as “epic” and “sweeping,” there’s not much else to go on. With Zemeckis wrapping up work on the Joseph Gordon-Levitt starrer, The Walk, and Brad Pitt and Knight busy on World War Z 2 pre-production, it’s unclear as to when this posse will find time to shoot anything else.
As always, we’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, however, check out the official press release below.
Paramount Pictures, GK Films and New Regency today announced that Brad Pitt will star, and Robert Zemeckis (“FLIGHT,” “FORREST GUMP”) will direct, an original story by Steve Knight (“THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY,” “DIRTY PRETTY THINGS”) to be produced by Graham King (“RANGO,” “THE DEPARTED”), who developed the project, alongside Zemeckis and Steve Starkey (“FLIGHT,” “REAL STEEL”).
The epic story will be produced through King’s GK Films banner with Jack Rapke (“FLIGHT,” “REAL STEEL”), Knight, Patrick McCormick (“BLACK MASS”) and Denis O’Sullivan (“THE 5thWAVE,” THE YOUNG VICTORIA”) serving as executive producers.
Zemeckis’ credits at Paramount Pictures include the 1994 blockbuster “FORREST GUMP,” for which he won the Academy Award® for Best Director. The groundbreaking film grossed $677 million worldwide and won six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for star Tom Hanks. In 2012, the studio and Zemeckis partnered on the critically-lauded, live-action thriller “FLIGHT,” which starred Denzel Washington and received two Academy Award nominations. Presently, Zemeckis is in post-production on “THE WALK,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, slated for an October 2015 release.
King and Knight are also partnered on the action-thriller “THE RED CIRCLE,” a remake of the classic French film “LE CERCLE ROUGE” reset in Hong Kong. Knight wrote the script and King is producing under GK Films.
