For an unmade movie remake of a political BBC TV show that anyone with a working internet connection can discover the ending to, State Of Play has been getting all sorts of fuss made over it lately.
Although, to be be fair, that isn't because State Of Play is a world-class movie in the making; it's because Brad Pitt stropped off production recently, right before it was due to start filming. But now, with Universal planning to sue Brad Pitt for the walk-out, State Of Play needs a new leading man, and fast. Step forward Russell Crowe, who Universal has been desperately wooing all weekend. Of course, Russell Crowe is a notoriously safe pair of hands, and won't demand constant script changes like Brad Pitt reportedly did, apart from requesting that his character performs a 25-minute multi-stanza poem about the fickle nature of material success right in the middle of things.
And that 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts performs the State Of Play title music.
And that the whole thing gets called Russell Crowe's State Of Play and is set in prehistoric times, and that Edward Norton's character is replaced by an otter in a baseball cap.
So the fall-out to Brad Pitt leaving State Of Play has begun. To recap, Brad Pitt left State Of Play because he kept clashing with director Kevin McDonald over the quality of the script, something that couldn't be changed because of the continuing writers' strike. We're assuming that the changes Brad Pitt wanted included scenes of Brad Pitt riding along a deserted beach topless on a motorbike at sunset with the unmistakable sound of Whitesnake in the background, but we can't be sure of that, so don't quote us.
Anyway, by walking out of State Of Play, Brad Pitt has caused a right royal mess behind the scenes. Filming of State Of Play is ready to go, and if it doesn't get moving soon, then its star-flecked cast of Edward Norton, Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams will be forced to abandon it too and the whole thing could go under.
So while Universal edges closer towards suing Brad Pitt – who, let's not forget, also walked out of production of The Fountain and constantly fought with the director of The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford – it's also busy trying to get Russell Crowe to jump into Brad Pitt's vacant spot.
Thanks to American Gangster being that rare occurrence – a recent Russell Crowe film that people want to watch – Russell Crowe is back in demand as an actor again. In March he begins filming Nottingham, the Ridley Scott-directed story of Robin Hood with the Sheriff Of Nottingham as the goodie, so if he agrees to fill in on State Of Play, filming will have to kick into gear pretty sharpish.
But this is all just speculation, because Russell Crowe hasn't agreed to be in State Of Play just yet. If negotiations fall through then Universal might also approach Johnny Depp or Tom Hanks, although these two actors are less desirable because they don't especially want the State Of Play lead to either assume an offputtingly unrealistic cockney accent or a mullety haircut that looks like it's made of plastic eels. So at this rate expect Brad Pitt's State Of Play role to be filled by man with the parrot from the Admiral Car Insurance adverts.
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