Brad Pitt Not In State Of Play Any More

When you look as much of a slow-thinking himbo as Brad Pitt, it's much harder to convince people to let you star in intelligent, thought-provoking, Oscar-winning dramas, because people always see you as the pretty boy from Meet Joe Black.

So when Brad Pitt announced that he was going to star in a movie adaptation of State Of Play, the blisteringly well-received BBC thriller that made a star out of Bill Nighy and won a slate of awards, it looked like Brad Pitt had finally got it right – he was making a film that was serious enough for him not to be taken merely as eye candy but not so serious that its constant sermonising turned audiences away. Not that it matters now because Brad Pitt has walked away from State Of Play right before filming was supposed to start and the studio wants to sue him. But Brad Pitt will get the last laugh because he'll still get to show off his acting chops in the movie he's making instead – Mr Pretty's World Of Doe-Eyed Gazing.

Brad Pitt has often said he's envious of Leonardo DiCaprio's career, since DiCaprio ditched his teen heart-throb image and now makes serious-minded popular movies like The Departed and Blood Diamond while Brad Pitt is content to gurn through smug nonsense like Ocean's Thirteen while occasionally making serious-minded Oscar-bait movies like Babel and The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford – movies that hardly anyone wanted to see.

But that seems to be changing a little – recently Brad Pitt has been putting his name to everything from Coen Brothers movies to F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptations to films about Richard Nixon. Whether or not anyone will go and see these films is another matter, but at least we know that nobody is going to see Brad Pitt in the Hollywood remake of State Of Play – because Brad Pitt isn't going to be in State Of Play any more.

Based on the BBC miniseries about journalists investigating a crooked politician – that won three Baftas, a Royal Television Society award, a Banff television festival award, a Broadcasting Press Guild award, a Cologne Conference award, a Directors Guild of Great Britain award, an Edgar Award and a Monte Carlo TV Festival award – the Hollywood remake of State Of Play is to star Edward Norton and Helen Mirren. But not Brad Pitt any more, because he's decided at the last minute that he didn't like the script. State Of Play's studio Universal has put out the following statement:

"Brad Pitt has left the Universal Pictures production of 'State of Play.' We remain committed to this project and to the filmmakers, cast members, crew and others who are also involved in making the movie. We reserve all rights in this matter."

Brad Pitt's walk-out follows a couple of weeks of meetings with director Kevin McDonald over the quality of the script. And since the writers' strike forbids making any last-minute script-changes – like adding more scenes where Brad Pitt showers or rescues puppies from burning trees while everyone watching weeps with undying gratitude – Brad Pitt has left.

So while Universal toys with the idea of suing Brad Pitt for backing out of State Of Play, it's also on the fast-track to look for a replacement. Johnny Depp's name has been mentioned, as has Russell Crowe's, and yet John Simm – the actor who made Brad Pitt's role his own in the original miniseries – scandalously doesn't seem to have been given a second thought.

But perhaps we're being too harsh. Brad Pitt has been around for long enough to know what's good and what's bad, and maybe the script for State Of Play really was beyond repair. After all, you don't get to make flicks like Troy without learning a thing or two about quality, do you?