Brad seals Plan B deal
2005-06-23 07:31
Los Angeles - Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt has signed a deal to shift his booming movie production company to Paramount Pictures from rival Warner Bros, he announced on Wednesday.
Paramount has signed a three-year deal, effective immediately, with Pitt's Plan B productions giving the major Tinseltown studio first option to produce film projects under development by Plan B.
Plan B - started in 2002 by Pitt, his estranged wife Jennifer Aniston and producer Brad Grey - is poised for the release of its first major project, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opens next month.
The deal with Paramount terminates Plan B's production deal with Warner Bros and follows Grey's move to Paramount earlier this year as the studio's chairman and chief executive officer.
"It's been no secret that I've wanted Plan B to have a home at Paramount, and it's especially gratifying to be bringing Brad and my old friends and colleagues from Plan B over as one of our first major production deals for the studio," said Grey.
Pitt was equally effusive about the new partnership.
"Having great respect for Brad's vision, we're excited for this opportunity to continue building our company in partnership with him and his team at Paramount," Pitt said.
Plan B is currently developing True Story, a film based on the book by former New York Times reporter Michael Finkel whose identity was stolen by a murder suspect, and Glass Castle, the story of a columnist trying to come to terms with her tough childhood.
Several of the production company's current projects will remain at Warner Bros, Pitt and Grey said.
The firm is red hot in Hollywood ahead of the opening of the Tim Burton-directed remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the upcoming The Departed, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson and directed by Martin Scorsese.