I’ve said it a million times on The Movie Blog. Brad Pitt is just simply one of the very best actors working today. Not always in the best movies, not always with the best scripts… but this guys ALWAYS delivers and I think the fact that he’s so “dreamy” makes people over look his ferocious talent. So even though I like Tom Cruise as an actor, this news has me quite excited.
Apparently now that Tom Cruise is out of the picture with Paramount, the studio is looking to keep the Mission Impossible franchise going with a new star: Brad Pitt. Good grief that would be cool. The good folks over at Rope Of Silcon give us this report:
if you believe this new rumor coming out of This is London of all places then Brad Pitt is the frontrunner to replace cruise in M:I IV!
The site reports the following: An insider told London Lite: “MI:IV will not include Cruise’s character, agent Ethan Hunt. They’re considering a brief mention, saying Hunt retired to live a safe life with his new wife. “They’re set on Brad taking over as a gutsy new head operative who puts together his own unique team of specialists.” Sources say Paramount is prepared to do whatever it takes to get Pitt on board, and is even willing to make him the highest-paid movie star in history, with a salary topping .
In case you aren’t a currency converter (like me) £21 million is $37,580,000, which is a chunk of change I can’t see anyone turning down even if it means Pitt would be indirectly stomping all over Cruise.
Ok, imagine for a second how big a Mission Impossible movie could be WITHOUT all the PR baggage that Cruise brought along with him to the table. Mission Impossible 3 did well at the box office… but it’s SCARY to think how well it would have done if anyone other than Cruise (with his current public image problems) had the lead in it. Make that new leading man Brad Pitt… and wow.
But as much as I love Pitt… PAYING HIM $37 MILLION!?!?! That’s CRAZY! Next thing you know Hollywood will go totally mental and pay a hack like Chris Tucker $25 million or something. Oh wait a sec…
