Brad Pitt Teams With ‘Conclave’ Director For New Film

Preview:

• Brad Pitt will collaborate with ‘Conclave’ and ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ director Edward Berger for a new drama called ‘The Riders.’
• Based on a 1994 novel, the story follows a man searching for his missing wife after she fails to return from a trip abroad.
• Pitt is also producing the film alongside Ridley Scott, with A24 providing financing and distribution for the project.

Brad Pitt has signed on to star in a new film called ‘The Riders,’ which will team him with German director Edward Berger.

According to Deadline, the film is an adaptation of a 1994 novel by Australian author Tim Winton, which was nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize award for literary fiction the following year. The film has been picked up after a bidding war by A24, which will finance and distribute the project. Filming is set to begin in 2026.

Related Article: Ralph Fiennes and Director Edward Berger Talk Thriller ‘Conclave’

What is the plot of ‘The Riders’?

Edward Berger accepts the Oscar® for International Feature Film during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023. Credit/Provider: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

Winton’s novel follows a man named Fred Scully, who is on an extended vacation in Europe with his wife and seven-year-old daughter when they end up in Ireland and come upon an old farmhouse that Scully’s wife Jennifer insists they purchase. As Scully begins renovating the house, Jennifer and their daughter return to their home in Australia to wind down their affairs and sell their property there.

But when Scully arrives at the airport in Ireland to pick them up, only his daughter disembarks from the aircraft. She cannot tell Scully what’s happened, there is no word from Jennifer, and no indication of where she’s gone or what has happened to her, leading a devastated Scully to travel through Europe with his daughter in a desperate attempt to find his wife.

The book has been adapted for the screen by David Kajganich, whose previous credits include the films ‘Suspiria’ (2018) and ‘Bones and All’ (2022), as well as the 2018 AMC series ‘The Terror,’ for which he developed the first season.

Who are the key filmmakers involved in the project?

Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in Apple Original Films’ ‘F1,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures / Apple Original Films.

‘The Riders’ has actually been in development as a film since the early 2000s, with actors like Sam Worthington, Mark Strong, and Luke Hemsworth all attached to various versions of it through 2014. In 2018, the film rights landed with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions, which will produce the film alongside Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and Berger’s production banner.

Brad Pitt will next be seen in ‘F1,’ the Formula One racing drama from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ director Joseph Kosinski that arrives in theaters in late June. He’s also expected to begin work on Netflix’s ‘The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth,’ the David Fincher-directed sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,’ later this year.

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Following ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and last year’s acclaimed ‘Conclave,’ Edward Berger has directed ‘The Ballad of a Small Player,’ a psychological thriller starring Colin Farrell, which will premiere on Netflix sometime in the fall.

(L to R) Director Edward Berger and Ralph Fiennes talk ‘Conclave’.

List of Edward Berger Movies:

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