Geez, speak of the devil. While we posted an open letter to Darren Aronofsky earlier today imploring him to think long and hard before signing on to “X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2,” news arrives that one of the more interesting projects on his plate might be close to getting in front of cameras.
In an interview with Quien, screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (“Babel,” “Amores Perros”) reveals that his previously announced adaptation of John Vaillant’s forthcoming non-fiction book “The Tiger” for director Darren Aronofsky and star/producer Brad Pitt is set to begin location scouting later in the year.
“These days I’m traveling to New York to lend clarity to the last detail, in November would be doing a tour of Siberia to check locations,” Arriaga said. However, most intriguingly, he indicates that the the film will shoot next year and Angelina Jolie will co-star with her partner, Brad Pitt.
The project, which will be Arriaga’s first time writing a screenplay based on someone else’s work, takes place in 1997 and follows an animal activist who must protect the small Siberian town he is in when a tiger begins attacking its inhabitants. “I decided to adapt this story because it is a great privilege to work with dedicated film like Darren Aronofsky and Brad Pitt,” he said.
So, could this be why, despite offers for both ‘Wolverine 2″ and Warner Bros. “Tales Of The Gangster Squad,” noise from the Aronofsky camp is quiet? We would guess that Aronofsky is probably getting the full picture of what shooting the “The Tiger” will require and more importantly, if he can put it all together, before making any decisions on the studio projects. “The Tiger” has been developing for a while and is set up as a co-production between Focus Features and Random House’s film division.
At any rate, if Angelina Jolie is involved, and if it goes forward, she probably won’t be able to commit to the film until late spring/early summer next year; she has already started shooting her untitled directorial debut. At the very least, what this indicates is that Aronofsky is still exploring one (and probably more) of the projects on the table at Protozoa before making his next move.
