did brad pitt quit the movie to shave the beard?

[BubbaStrangelove]

pitt has been growing a beard for a new sci-fi movie. he's gotten alot of guff from fans, and also it's rumoured that Aniston hates the thing.

I heard that he's walked away from the flick, and immediately shaved the beard, but says he'll continue the project.


anyone got more info on this?

[The Heart Collector]

I don't think he'd give away millions of dollars to shave a beard.

[notchreturns]

I heard he "quit" because the script was going through numerous re-writes, many of which he wasn't happy with. Also, the film has taken forever to get going, mainaly because of Aronofsky's troubles with the studio, I believe. And I'm sure having to grow a monster beard like he did was quite annoying.

But who knows? I've heard all of those rumors though.

[Scarface98.9]

he didn't like the rewrites the movie was going through, so he quit (or is close to doing so) and ended up shaving it

[Moviefan1234]

Someone told me that last week USA Today reported that he DID NOT leave the project.

[Tom Samborski]

Pitt sure turned down a big role.

[Goosey]

Over at aintitcool there is a story about Pitt leaving. It includes an angry letter to Pitt written by some of the film crew.

[fryman_3000]

I wouldn't be too quick to judge Pitt though. Afterall we haven't heard from him yet.

Remember he was partially responsible for keeping Se7en's ending intact, and we've also heard he didn't like a re-write so it might be reasonable for him to stand his ground, we don't know yet.

[Raena]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Goosey:
Over at aintitcool there is a story about Pitt leaving. It includes an angry letter to Pitt written by some of the film crew.</font>

Yeah, I read this report:


"Fountain" Crew in the Pitts

A fight club's forming Down Under.
The hundreds of crew members on filmmaker Darren Aronofsky's sci-fi flick The Fountain are taking Brad Pitt to task for bailing on the production just two months before its scheduled start date in Australia, apparently scuttling the project.

In an open letter addressed to the Ain't It Cool News Website, reps for the workers hired to build, paint, and prep the sets for the Warner Bros. film lashed out at the Hollywood star for up and leaving the project, saying it would leave many of them jobless.

"The real bummer is for the 400 or so crew who have flown in from all corners of Australia and overseas [and are] out on their asses. What amazes us is that it appears Brad Pitt has no real understanding of the impact of his decision, now only seven weeks from shooting," the missive reads. "We estimate there is [sic] over 1500 people here in Australia, including family and children, who are now displaced and unemployed."

The letter claims Aronofsky and producer Gil Adler tried to convince Pitt to stay with The Fountain, but the actor decided to ditch the project to play Achilles in director Wolfgang Petersen's Troy, also a Warners film.

With Pitt's sudden departure, the letter says, Aronofsky and his producers essentially had no choice but to shelve the project again (the film was scrapped once before) because of the inability to find a bankable leading man at such a late date. Now, the film, which was to also feature Cate Blanchett and Ellen Burstyn in major roles, may not be made for months, if ever.

"Do these stars, who get paid a huge percentage of a film's budget, understand that they are responsible for the livelihood of so many others? It appears that Brad surely doesn't," the letter continues. "He may have a good reason for pulling out now, but to us it just appears like Hollywood prima donna antics."

Last week, E! Online's Ted Casablanca reported that Pitt was unimpressed by the intricate Fountain script cowritten by Aronofsky and Ari Handel, which follows a man who hops through time.

Meanwhile, Daily Variety says Pitt would also have a bigger payday by jumping to Troy, and London's Daily Mirror reported Pitt was unhappy with the film being shot on Australia's Gold Coast because he found it to be a "schlocky tourist area."

Whatever the reasons for the actor's departure, Casablanca says that Warners is considering billing the 38-year-old up to $20 million to cover costs for the shuttered production. The money would reportedly come from Pitt's Troy payday. (For Fountain, Pitt would have taken a pay cut from his usual $17.5 million salary to $6 million to keep the budget in line.)

Of course, Pitt might argue that the chance to shave off his beard would be worth any amount. The actor grew the scraggly whiskers specifically for The Fountain.

But Brad's grooming won't do much to console the spirits of The Fountain crew, who say they've been "been pitted."

"Send the word...Brad is a dick," concluded the workers' tirade.

Publicists for Pitt and Aronofsky did not return phone calls seeking comment. Warner Bros. declined to address the controversy.

As for Aronofsky, known for indie flicks like Pi and Requiem for a Dream, the crew says he was "gutted" by Pitt's desertion and was planning to hold a wrap party for the film he has yet to shoot at his beachfront house.