Brad Pitt refused a massive franchise to play in a poor spy film

Without repeating exactly this famous adage William Goldman for the umpteenth time, it is essentially a truism than in Hollywood, nobody knows what will work. This applies to actors as much as studio leaders, as evidenced by the fact that Will Smith refused both “the matrix” and “creation” – the latter because he “did not understand it”. Meanwhile, there are a lot of emblematic horror roles that the actors regret to refuse, and I imagine that several of the actors who said “no” in the “Harry Potter” franchise probably felt a tint of remorse.

Perhaps not as mortifying as Smith refusing two of the biggest science fiction blockbusters of all time, but almost also frustrating, was Brad Pitt’s decision to choose a particularly mediocre espionage actuator on what has become a modern classic of a spy film. In 2000, the actor had, according to Variety, offered the role of Jason Bourne in the 2002 spy thriller “The Bourne Identity”. The point of sale reported at the time that Pitt was “strongly courted by Universal” for the film, the studio wishing to launch a franchise based on the three books of Robert Ludlum that they had acquired. As noted Variety, a franchise had then escaped Pitt, but as we all know, “The Bourne Identity” made his debut two years later with Matt Damon in the main role.

So what happened? Well, it seems that Pitt has decided to go in a different direction. He stayed with the kind of espionage but accepted an offer for a very different film which absolutely did not generate one of the most successful spy franchises of all time.

When “The Bourne Identity” made its debut in 2002, it was like a reset for the kind of action, which seemed to be rushing otherwise. Although “The Matrix” (without Will Smith) exploded the public’s mind with his truly original action sequences, the icons of the genre like James Bond always seemed to have difficulties. “Die Another Day” also made his debut in 2002, and there is a reason why he remembers as the worst film Bond of all time. But “The Bourne Identity” delivered a visceral and topocyte action which felt simultaneously anchored and credible. Soon, everyone in Hollywood took the plunge, the industry producing restarts on the left to the left and right. Meanwhile, the Bourne saga produced two excellent suites in the form of “The Bourne Supremacy” of 2004 and “The Bourne Ultimatum” of 2007, solidified the main actor Matt Damon as not only one of the biggest Hollywood action heroes, but as a Bancable A-Lister.

Meanwhile, Brad Pitt had to look since the sidelines (although he had a more important role than Damon in the very success “Ocean’s Eleven” in 2001, which represented the biggest Pitt opening weekend at the time and who, don’t know, Bruce Willis regretted to refuse). However, the man could have done with another blow to follow this, in particular the one who rewritten the cinema of the rules of action. According to Variety, Pitt did not exactly refuse “the identity of Bourne”, but he rather engaged in another film and his schedule has filled out, forcing him to transmit Bourne. However, if he really wanted to play Jason Bourne, he could have said no to this other film, and considering how it proved to be in the Damon spy thriller, he should probably have.

For some for a Schlocky spectacle provider, for others an accomplished showman, Tony Scott made some of the most propulsive and most engaging action films ever made. While “True Romance” always gets a mention, Scott’s best film, and Denzel Washington’s favorite film by John David Washington, was undoubtedly “Man of Fire”, who saw Denzel in one of his greatest roles of action heroes before directing the “Equalizer” franchise. The 2001 “Spy Game”, on the other hand, may not remember the best moment of the director, but it was certainly not his worst. In fact, he seemed to define Scott more clearly than all the others of his films, in the sense that the script of Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata was crazy, but Scott made the final product observable – a testimony of the fact that the style, rather than being the antithesis of the substance, can often be its own type of substance.

The film played Robert Redford in the role of Nathan Muir, a CIA agent on the verge of retirement when he learns his protégé, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), is detained in China with espionage. Muir has not seen Bishop for some time, having fallen with his former mentoring for years earlier. But while the memories of their time come back together, Muir decides to embark on a mission to release the bishop.

Pitt, Who’d Starred in Redford’s 1992 Period Drama “A River Runs Through It,” Evidently Accept for the Role of Bishop Institute of Committing To “the Bourne Identity,” Which of Race Looks Crazy in Hindsight, but there was no guarante The Massive Hit It Did, and Pitt Had Been Discus on Golden Boy in Hollywood in Similar Terms to Redford in His Younger Days, So There was a certain poetry in the two that combine on the screen. However, this had to do a little trouble to see how the Matt Damon franchise took off while “Spy Game” received intermediate criticism (the film is 64% on Rotten Tomatoes) and has only made $ 143 million with a budget of $ 115 million. “The Bourne Identity”, on the other hand, stands at 84% muscular and made $ 214 million with a budget of $ 60 million – to say nothing about the franchise he launched. However, at least Pitt can say that he has not transmitted “The Matrix” … Wait, scratch that – he did.