ROTTEN TOMATOES: Pitt, Norton Reunite for State of Play

Pitt, Norton Reunite for State of Play

BBC classic to receive the American remake treatment.

by Jeff Giles | September 12, 2007

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Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are teaming up again.

The two actors, who collaborated on 1999's Fight Club, have signed on to star in Universal's adaptation of Paul Abbott's BBC miniseries State of Play. Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland) will direct from Matthew Michael Carnahan's script (recently re-written by Tony Gilroy).

State of Play, which earned unequivocal raves during its 2003 run, revolves around the relationship between a politician (Norton) and a journalist (Pitt) whose friendship is tested by a murder investigation. Variety's report includes the following synopsis:

Norton will play a congressman whose speedy political rise is threatened by an investigation into the death of his mistress. Pitt plays a politico-turned-journalist whose relationship with the solon is compromised when he oversees his newspaper's investigation into the murder and develops a relationship with the pol's estranged wife.

Given that the David Yates-directed original is six hours long, the filmmakers will have their work cut out for them when it comes to bringing a feature-length version to the screen. Production is scheduled to begin in November.

Source: Variety

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(1-11 of 11 posts) | Reply

Ender7406 writes:
on Sep 12 2007 05:47 AM

I just can't see this going wrong.

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vader_of_vjun writes:
on Sep 12 2007 05:48 AM

Oh, God. This is going to be ridiculously inferior to the original, I don't care how good Norton supposedly is.

I hope to be proved wrong, but...Americans very rarely top the British at their own game.

(Reply to this)

moviefrk13 writes:
on Sep 12 2007 08:03 AM

Well it is hard to top a 6 hour mini-series when you can only have a 2-3 hour movie. Still, Pitt and Norton together is perfect.

(Reply to this)

Jesus McNasty writes:
on Sep 12 2007 09:12 AM

Brad Pitt is still acting?

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DaHypr1 writes:
on Sep 12 2007 11:06 AM

edward norton is a fantastic actor, and even if the movies he's in are ****, i still find his performances enjoyable

(Reply to this)

Lizard Brain writes:
on Sep 12 2007 11:17 AM

The first rule of "State of Play" is that you do not talk about "State of Play." The second rule...

(Reply to this)

Ruckas356 writes:
on Sep 12 2007 01:56 PM

FIGHT CLUB 2! THAT IS WHAT I WANT!

(Reply to this)

BReeG writes:
on Sep 12 2007 01:57 PM

I wonder if Bill Nighy will reprise his role from the original...

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rmobbs writes:
on Sep 12 2007 04:26 PM

"I hope to be proved wrong, but...Americans very rarely top the British at their own game."

Since that unreservedly goes both ways - the British have tried to copy American shows and utterly failed as well - perhaps it's better to say that stories simply do not transfer well from one cultural setting to another.

(Reply to this)

rabidbothan writes:
on Sep 12 2007 09:14 PM

...except The Office.

But you'll probably disagree =(

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MMacKK writes:
on Sep 13 2007 12:16 AM

State of Play is/was magic.

I think that this is the kind of film that could potentially cross cultures. Drama is a more universal thing than comedy, when you examine the little quirks that make British and American humour so differnt.

A re-imagining wouldn't do the series any harm. I warmly embrace the idea.

(Reply to this)