Norton, Pitt Square Off Again in ‘State of Play’

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 12, 2007

The last time we saw Ed Norton and Brad Pitt together on the silver screen, they were beating the living piss out of each other in David Fincher’s Fight Club. Since then, they have both had a pretty good run. And with the exception of Death to Smoochy, neither of these guys has made a truly terrible film. One of them also has crazy jungle sex with Angelina Jolie, which is quite a feat in its own right. And now it turns out that Pitt and Norton will be back on screen together, duking it out for the folks at Universal in State of Play, an adaptation of a popular British miniseries.

As Variety reports, Pitt has been attached to the project for a while. And thanks to a re-write from Tony Gilroy, he is finally ready to commit to the project, which will be directed by The Last King of Scotland’s Kevin Macdonald. Pitt will star as a politico-turned-journalist who is investigating the death of a hot-to-trot congressman’s mistress. Ed Norton will play the congressman with a mistress, which is in no way a parallel to reality. In the real world, Pitt would be investigating a gay sex solicitation scandal. But what the hell, the story does come from overseas; they are just different over there.

The project will begin the day Ed Norton wraps on The Incredible Hulk, which he is currently working on with director Louis Leterrier. Pitt on the other hand, will just be taking a break from helping Angelina around the refugee camp house.

On the Side: Brad Pitt’s first job was dancing in a chicken suit for a chicken restaurant. It’s one of those great “where are they now?” stories considering his current job: Angelina’s Plaything.

| | Read more articles by Neil Miller