Brad Pitt Was Forced To Star In One Of His Biggest Hits Or Pay Millions
Academy Award-winner Brad Pitt tried to back out of this hit film, but he would have paid a pretty big price for not following through.
Brad Pitt is one of Hollywood’s most successful actors. Ever since his appearance in the likes of Thelma & Louise, the star has appeared in countless hits such as Seven, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Moneyball. However, there was one such film that Brad Pitt tried to back out of filming, before being threatened with a hefty bill if he followed through, Far Out recalls.
The film in question was the cop thriller The Devil’s Own. Pitt starred alongside acting legend Harrison Ford in the 1997 film that proved to be the last of director Alan J. Pakula’s career. Ford stars as a police officer who welcomes a new house guest, Brad Pitt, who turns out to be an IRA terrorist in hiding. Pitt was not a fan of the production from the get-go and had quite a bit to say about the tumultuous project; “We had no script. Well, we had a great script but it got tossed for various reasons-“To have to make something up as you go along… what pressure! “It was ridiculous. It was the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking.” Brad Pitt’s concerns over the nature of the film’s script were shared by his co-star Harrison Ford, who spoke to The New York Times back in 1997; “”We were all a bit unhinged by the failure to come up with more of a script.”
Pitt’s comments did indeed cause a bit of a stir and speaking to The Rolling Stone about the production, the actor recalled how the production team attempted to force him to backtrack on his comments. Pitt refused in this instance but did however go on to state how his negativity toward The Devil’s Own was reserved solely for the production, not the final product.
Despite the negativity coming from Pitt and the rocky road to the release of The Devil’s Own, the film did go on to perform reasonably well at the box office. Worldwide, The Devil’s Own went on to gross approximately $140 million worldwide, a small profit thus being made over its alleged $90 million budget. This could likely be attributed to the pulling power of Brad Pitt and his co-star Harrison Ford, as the film has a lowly Rotten Tomatoes score of 35%.
For Brad Pitt, The Devil’s Own will likely serve as an almost forgotten memory. Since its release, his star has risen astronomically and he even has a best-supporting actor Oscar to his name. As well as this, Brad Pitt has a best picture Oscar to his name thanks to his producing role in the intense Steve McQueen drama 12 Years a Slave. Not only does Brad Pitt have an incredible film career behind him, but he has an exciting one ahead of him. He recently made a brief cameo in the wonderful comedy The Lost City alongside Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum and is in the lead role of Bullet Train, which is on course to be one of the most delightful comedy-action films of the summer.
