EXCLUSIVE: After signing a star-studded cast for its YA fantasy novel adaptation Children of Blood and Bone, Paramount has inked a deal for Brad Pitt to produce and star in Heart of the Beast, David Ayer’s action adventure film for Paramount Pictures, on which we were first to report last March.
Written by Cameron Alexander, who will executive produce, the film centers on a former Army Special Forces Soldier and his retired combat dog who battle for survival after a plane crash deep in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness.
Damien Chazelle and Olivia Hamilton will also produce under their Wild Chickens Productions banner, as part of their first-look deal with the studio. Ayer produces under his Crave Films banner, along with Temple Hill Entertainment, and Pitt under his Plan B banner. Richard Raymond is co-producing.
For Pitt, Heart of the Beast marks the follow-up to F1, Apple’s anticipated, big-budget sports actioner, which Warner Bros releases in theaters on June 27. He’s a producer on the film from Top Gun: Maverick‘s Joseph Kosinski and prior to that teamed with George Clooney on Wolfs, Apple TV+’s fixer action comedy directed by Jon Watts, which he also produced. That film premiered out of competition at Venice and went on to become the streamer’s most-viewed feature title after a limited release in theaters.
Outside of his acting work, Pitt has recently EP’d theatrical hits including Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Bob Marley: One Love, as well as RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys, an Amazon adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from Colson Whitehead, which yesterday landed Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. He’s also an executive producer on Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, which Warner Bros releases March 7 following a Berlin premiere, as well as the upcoming Hedda, Nia DaCosta’s feature take on the Henrik Ibsen play for Amazon MGM’s Orion.
Pitt is represented by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Goodman, Genow Schenkman.