Big moves! Netflix established itself as a television juggernaut with Emmy-winning series like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards, and the streaming service is now preparing to take on feature films.
According to Deadline, Netflix recently nabbed the rights to the upcoming Brad Pitt movie War Machine. The satirical flick is a hyped big-screen adaptation of Michael Hastings' 2012 book, The Operators: The Wild And Terrifying Inside Story Of America’s War In Afghanistan.
Pitt, 51, earns both producing and acting credits for War Machine. He leads the movie as a decorated military general, who takes inspiration from legendary army general Stanley A. McChrystal.
Pitt's Plan B production company is working on the film alongside screenwriter and director David Michod. The opportunity is a big one for the celebrated filmmaker, as he made his feature film debut just five years ago with 2010's Animal Kingdom.
Deadline reports that War Machine is expected to arrive on Netflix in 2016, the same year that it will also see theatrical release. The movie will begin filming this summer on a Netflix budget.
"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," Pitt said in a statement on Monday, June 8. His collaborator Michod chimed in, "I’m humbled to be making a big, bold movie about the whole sprawling, complex, cumbersome and crazy machinery of modern war and the many lives it touches."
War Machine is just the latest project in Pitt's increasingly busy film schedule. He is currently awaiting the release of the drama By the Sea with wife Angelina Jolie, and will begin work on The Big Short and World War Z 2 in the coming months.
