Bullhead director to take on The Tiger produced by Darren Aronofsky and Brad Pitt

August 16th 2012, 9:49am

BULLHEAD director Michael R. Roskam is attached to direct THE TIGER, an adaptation of the novel by John Vaillant with a script by Guillermo Arriaga (BABEL). At one time the project was to be helmed by Darren Aronofsky with Brad Pitt attached to star, but it has since become another of Aronofsky’s leavings (much like a famed mutant sequel currently in production). Aronofsky and Pitt are still on board to produce, but no production dates have been announced.

I love man vs. nature shit, so this could be really cool. I enjoyed Joe Carnahan’s THE GREY, although will admit I was a disappointed that I didn’t get to see Liam Neeson punch a wolf. Still, the concept of “superior” man vs. “inferior” animal is typically a fun ride (THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS and JAWS comes to mind). Casting will be key, as there’s a lead role of an animal activist tapped to track down the tiger, which will need to be someone of Pitt’s caliber.

Here’s the synopsis:

A gripping story of man pitted against nature’s most fearsome and efficient predator.

Outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East a man-eating tiger is on the prowl. The tiger isn’t just killing people, it’s murdering them, almost as if it has a vendetta. A team of trackers is dispatched to hunt down the tiger before it strikes again. They know the creature is cunning, injured, and starving, making it even more dangerous. As John Vaillant re-creates these extraordinary events, he gives us an unforgettable and masterful work of narrative nonfiction that combines a riveting portrait of a stark and mysterious region of the world and its people, with the natural history of nature’s most deadly predator.

Roskam is a busy man these days, now with THE TIGER on his plate and working with Michael Mann on the pilot for a new original series on HBO, called Buda Bridge, which is “a Belgian-set crime story that takes place in Brussels in the near future. It unfolds when a woman is found dead on Buda Bridge, which leads to a series of violent crimes and strange science that bring mayhem to the dark capital of the European state.” Roskam is both writing the script and directing the pilot.

Stay tuned as THE TIGER develops.