Brad Pitt and Darren Aronofsky were at one point expected to make The Fighter together, but that film ultimately went to David O. Russell and stars Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, but apparently the two talents remain on a collision course. Aronofsky is now attached to direct The Tiger with Pitt attached to the lead role and Babel scripter Guillermo Arriaga set to pen the script, adapting the upcoming nonfiction book by John Vaillant.
Variety reports Focus Features is already aboard to distribute the film which takes place on the Siberian plain, where human development is encroaching on the tigers’ habitat — and one tiger turns on the intruders. With townspeople being tracked and hunted with an almost supernatural power, a conservationist game warden must face down the tiger. It is a fight that only one of them can win.
This is actually the third time Pitt has been attached to an Aronofsky project as he was all set to star in The Fountain opposite Cate Blanchett, but that film fell apart at the last minute before Aronofsky brought it all back together with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.
The Tiger will serve as Arriaga’s first adaptation following his work on such notable films as Amores Perros, 21 Grams and his Oscar-nominated screenplay for Babel. Vaillant’s “The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival” will be published by Knopf in August.
Aronofsky’s next film is Black Swan which stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis and is expected to hit theaters later this year. He’s also said to be developing Jackie, a biopic on Jackie Kennedy Onassis with his fiance Rachel Weisz attached to the starring role.
