War Machine (2016)

Director: David Michôd
Writers: Michael Hastings (Book) | David Michôd (Screenplay) previously known as “The Operators”
Producers: Dede Gardner | Jeremy Kleiner | Brad Pitt
Production Company: Plan B Entertainment
Cast: Brad Pitt (“General McChrystal”), Meg Tilly (Jeanie McChrystal), Ben Kingsley, Tilda Swinton, Anthony Michael Hall (“Gen. Hank Pulver”), Emory Cohen (Platoon Member), Topher Grace (Press Adviser), John Magaro (“Cory Burger”), Scoot McNairy, Anthony Hayes, Will Poulter, RJ Cyler (Andy Moon), Andrew Byron (Ukranian CO), Alexander Furno (US Army Graza), Elham Eshas (Kenny), Teresa Shaughnessy (US Military Staff), Justin Rosniak (Derek Bogg)
Current Status: Post Production 13 December 2015
Distribution: Netflix (worldwide & limited theatrical release)
Release Date: 2016

Netflix Press Release:

“Beverly Hills, June 8, 2015—The Netflix original film, War Machine, a provocative satirical comedy from David Michôd with Brad Pitt set to star in the leading role, will be exclusively available to members of the leading Internet TV service globally and in select theaters next year.

Produced by Netflix and Pitt alongside his Plan B partners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, and producer Ian Bryce (World War Z, Saving Private Ryan), War Machine brings together Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, World War Z, Moneyball) with Michôd, the acclaimed Australian writer and director (Animal Kingdom, The Rover). Principal photography is scheduled to start in August.

Inspired by the best-selling book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan by the late Michael Hastings, War Machine concerns a four star, “rock star” general whose lethal reputation and impeccable track record vaults him to command the American war in Afghanistan. Determined to win the “impossible” war once and for all with a radical new approach, the general and his motley staff of commanders and press advisers race across the globe navigating delicate international alliances and troop requests, the charged battlefield of Washington politics, the voracious appetite of the media, and the day-to-day management of the war itself – all the while struggling to stay connected to the lives of men and women out in the field.

“War Machine is a rip-roaring, behind-the-facade tale of modern war decision-makers, from the corridors of power to the distant regions of Americas ambitions,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “Brad and David are a perfect team to make this timely, compelling and entertaining film.”

“We are so excited to be a part of the inspiring commitment by Netflix to produce cutting-edge content and to deliver it to a global audience” said Pitt.

Added Michôd “I’m humbled to be making a big, bold movie about the whole sprawling, complex, cumbersome and crazy machinery of modern war and the many lives it touches.”

You can read the full press release here

ARTICLES:

MOVIE REVIEWS

International Review Roundup

EXTERNAL ARTICLES

The Hollywood Reporter: “Animal Kingdom helmer David Michod has signed on to write and direct the film The Operators for Brad Pitt’s Plan B, New Regency and RatPac Entertainment.

Based on the late Michael Hastings‘ incendiary best-seller, The Operators chronicles the rise and fall of General Stanley McChrystal, the commanding general of international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and offers a behind-the-scenes portrait of our military commanders, their high-stakes maneuvers and the political firestorm that shook the United States. Pitt already signed on to star as Gen. McChrystal.”

Rolling Stone: “rad Pitt will star and produce the film adaptation of journalist Michael Hastings’ 2012 book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan, which gave a behind-the-scenes account of the recalcitrant General Stanley McChrystal from when Hastings was researching his award-winning Rolling Stone article “The Runaway General.” Director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom, Hesher) will helm the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Read exclusive excerpt from “The Operators” Michael Hasting here

IF.com: “Fresh from helming The Rover, David Michôd is writing and will direct The Operators, which will star Brad Pitt as the four-star general who led US and NATO forces in the war against Afghanistan.

Pitt will play General Stanley McChrystal, who was stripped of his post by President Obama after he criticised the White House’s handling of the war in a Rolling Stone article.

The film will be produced by Pitt’s Plan B, New Regency and Brett Ratner and James Packer’s RatPac Entertainment, according to Deadline.com.

The screenplay is based on the book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan by Michael Hastings, the reporter who wrote the Rolling Stone piece.

New York Magazine’s Frank Rich hailed the book as “an impressive feat of journalism by a Washington outsider who seemed to know more about what was going on in Washington than most insiders did.”

Hastings died in a car crash in Los Angeles last year, aged 33.”

FORBES: Netflix acquires Brad Pitt’s “War Machine” for $30 million: what does that mean for theatres?