Pitt's next stop
Thesp, Warner Bros. in 'Townie' talks
Pitt's deal hadn't closed late Thursday, but the studio is bullish enough to set a preliminary start date of Jan. 15, and canvass top actresses for the female lead, with "Double Jeopardy" star Ashley Judd among those mentioned. The film is being produced by Baltimore Spring Creek partners Barry Levinson and Paula Weinstein, along with Chris Bender and J.C. Spink.
Pitt would play an alienated youth who has trouble connecting with his affluent, socialite parents. Trying to shed his rich trappings, he moves to Chicago to become a novelist, but he eventually returns home to tend to his dying father. In the process, he attempts to regain control of his life, rekindling a relationship with a woman from his past.
Pitt was expected to star next in "The Mexican," a Joel Wyman-scripted drama which David Fincher was to helm. Fincher directed Pitt and Edward Norton in the Jim Uhls-scripted "Fight Club," a drama shaping up to be one of the most controversial films of the year. Helmer recently bowed out of "The Mexican," and a search for a new director is still under way.
It's likely that Pitt will do "Urban Townies" first, then return to "The Mexican," a project produced by Lawrence Bender Prods. and set up at Newmarket.
"Urban Townies" marks the first script written by Jesse Wigutow, and the first major feature for Romanek, a cutting edge video director who has lensed vids for Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson and Madonna. The director and Pitt are repped by CAA, with Pitt managed by Brillstein-Grey. Wigutow's managed by Bender-Spink and agented by UTA, which also just signed Levinson and Baltimore Spring Creek.
