The Hammer
07-13-2006, 01:42 PM
EXCLUSIVE: Angelina to Jen: I'm Not Done Yet
Posted Jul 12th 2006 11:00PM by Claude Brodesser-Akner
Filed under: Brad and Angelina, City Of Industry
From Claude Brodesser-Akner's City of Industry blog.
It's not official yet, but in the next few days or so, you can expect the conclusive announcement: Angelina Jolie will be working for her better half, Brad Pitt, and doing so in a film produced at the very company that Pitt created with his former wife, Jennifer Aniston. More, Jolie will be starring in a role that was once considered a potential Oscar berth for Aniston.
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tmz.com/media/2006/07/aniston_jolie_pitt_wi_375.jpg
Yes, TMZ has learned that negotiations are proceeding apace to move "A Mighty Heart," the biopic about slain Wall Street Journal Middle East correspondent Daniel Pearl, penned by his widow, Marianne Pearl - from Warner Bros. to Paramount's new shingle, Paramount Vantage.
Originally, of course, Pitt and Aniston's production shingle, Plan B, was set up at Warner Bros., the brainchild of the couple's then-manager and business partner, Brad Grey. But when Grey sold his stake in his management firm Brillstein/Grey Entertainment to become the new CEO of Paramount Pictures, few doubted that Plan B would move to Paramount, too. And, six months after they announced their marital split, Plan B uprooted itself from Warners and did just that.
The problem for Grey and Pitt, of course, was that Warner Bros. still controlled the projects that had been previously optioned by Plan B prior to its arrival at Paramount.
Now, insiders tell us, talks are proceeding to bring Pearl's "A Mighty Heart" to Paramount Vantage, the newly re-flagged division headed by John Lesher. Lesher, like Grey, is a former talent representative (albeit an ex-agent and partner at talent house Endeavor, not a manager) but nonetheless extremely entrepreneurial and eager to program edgy, ripped-from-the-headlines material that his auteur clients favored. (For example, Lesher currently overseeing production on one of his former clients films - "Boys Don't Cry" director Kim Peirce's Iraq war drama, "Stop Loss" slated for release next year.) In the case of "Mighty Heart," though, "Road to Guantanamo" director Michael Winterbottom is expected to be directing Jolie.
It's unclear when Jolie would star in the film, given her new family and recent commitment to voice "Kung Fu Panda" at Dream Works Animation, but that film isn't expect to be released until 2008. Jolie's has recently flirted with Robert Rodriguez' planned sequel to "Sin City" as well as Warner Bros.' "Ocean's Thirteen."
For Aniston, it must be particularly galling to see Jolie in the role that had originally been intended for her. However, under the terms of the Pitt / Aniston divorce, Brad got the company, Jen got the house, so in theory it should come as no surprise.
(But goddamn if Angelina isn't making herself right home, right? We're reminded of that famous scene in another Paramount Picture, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" - "Dr. Jones...Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away." )
And with the exception of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Aniston and Pitt's Plan B has yet to bear substantial fruit, their old manse clearly already has: In April, the Los Angeles Times reported that it sold for close to its $24.95 million asking price. (Remember: When selling a home, $24.95 million sounds so much more affordable than $25 million, right? But we digress.) And what a house: The 11,000-plus-square-foot French Normandy estate which the couple purchased in 2001 had more than doubled its value; they picked it up for $13.5 million in 2001.
No word on the budget for "A Mighty Heart" but it's thought to be under $25 million. At that price, we're surprised Paramount didn't just buy the old Aniston/Pitt house - unlike Jolie's mixed box office record, L.A. real estate is a sure thing these days.
Credit: tmz.com
Posted Jul 12th 2006 11:00PM by Claude Brodesser-Akner
Filed under: Brad and Angelina, City Of Industry
From Claude Brodesser-Akner's City of Industry blog.
It's not official yet, but in the next few days or so, you can expect the conclusive announcement: Angelina Jolie will be working for her better half, Brad Pitt, and doing so in a film produced at the very company that Pitt created with his former wife, Jennifer Aniston. More, Jolie will be starring in a role that was once considered a potential Oscar berth for Aniston.
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tmz.com/media/2006/07/aniston_jolie_pitt_wi_375.jpg
Yes, TMZ has learned that negotiations are proceeding apace to move "A Mighty Heart," the biopic about slain Wall Street Journal Middle East correspondent Daniel Pearl, penned by his widow, Marianne Pearl - from Warner Bros. to Paramount's new shingle, Paramount Vantage.
Originally, of course, Pitt and Aniston's production shingle, Plan B, was set up at Warner Bros., the brainchild of the couple's then-manager and business partner, Brad Grey. But when Grey sold his stake in his management firm Brillstein/Grey Entertainment to become the new CEO of Paramount Pictures, few doubted that Plan B would move to Paramount, too. And, six months after they announced their marital split, Plan B uprooted itself from Warners and did just that.
The problem for Grey and Pitt, of course, was that Warner Bros. still controlled the projects that had been previously optioned by Plan B prior to its arrival at Paramount.
Now, insiders tell us, talks are proceeding to bring Pearl's "A Mighty Heart" to Paramount Vantage, the newly re-flagged division headed by John Lesher. Lesher, like Grey, is a former talent representative (albeit an ex-agent and partner at talent house Endeavor, not a manager) but nonetheless extremely entrepreneurial and eager to program edgy, ripped-from-the-headlines material that his auteur clients favored. (For example, Lesher currently overseeing production on one of his former clients films - "Boys Don't Cry" director Kim Peirce's Iraq war drama, "Stop Loss" slated for release next year.) In the case of "Mighty Heart," though, "Road to Guantanamo" director Michael Winterbottom is expected to be directing Jolie.
It's unclear when Jolie would star in the film, given her new family and recent commitment to voice "Kung Fu Panda" at Dream Works Animation, but that film isn't expect to be released until 2008. Jolie's has recently flirted with Robert Rodriguez' planned sequel to "Sin City" as well as Warner Bros.' "Ocean's Thirteen."
For Aniston, it must be particularly galling to see Jolie in the role that had originally been intended for her. However, under the terms of the Pitt / Aniston divorce, Brad got the company, Jen got the house, so in theory it should come as no surprise.
(But goddamn if Angelina isn't making herself right home, right? We're reminded of that famous scene in another Paramount Picture, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" - "Dr. Jones...Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away." )
And with the exception of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Aniston and Pitt's Plan B has yet to bear substantial fruit, their old manse clearly already has: In April, the Los Angeles Times reported that it sold for close to its $24.95 million asking price. (Remember: When selling a home, $24.95 million sounds so much more affordable than $25 million, right? But we digress.) And what a house: The 11,000-plus-square-foot French Normandy estate which the couple purchased in 2001 had more than doubled its value; they picked it up for $13.5 million in 2001.
No word on the budget for "A Mighty Heart" but it's thought to be under $25 million. At that price, we're surprised Paramount didn't just buy the old Aniston/Pitt house - unlike Jolie's mixed box office record, L.A. real estate is a sure thing these days.
Credit: tmz.com