There is no greater arthouse bromance right now than the one between director Steve McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender. The duo first paired up on “Hunger,” which brought them both some considerable attention, and this year they are dominating the fall movie chatter with the NC-17 sex-addiction drama “Shame.” They’ve already lined up their next collaboration, “Twelve Years A Slave,” which also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, and now one of the biggest actors in the world is lining up to join them.
Brad Pitt, who is producing the film via his Plan B shingle, and has been developing the project for years, is taking a role as well. It can be easy to confuse which films the actor is producing or starring in — or both — however, this news cropped up in a recent Screen Daily report about the project, and Plan B told us that the trade story was accurate, though they could not provide any further details.
Co-written by McQueen and John Ridley (”Bobby,” “Three Kings”), the movie is based on the 1853 autobiography written by Solomon Northup, a free black man who was tricked into slavery. Educated, married and living in New York, Northup was lured by a job offer in Washington only to be kidnapped and put in a slave pen, leading to years of enslavement under various owners. He finally earned back his freedom when a white Canadian carpenter who opposed slavery smuggled letters to Northup’s wife, which helped launch a court case that eventually set him free.
River Road is now on board to co-produce, with Summit International to handle sales at the American Film Market next month. This will mark another team up between Pitt and the two companies following Terrence Malick‘s “The Tree Of Life.” Filming is slated to begin in 2012.
This will be the second movie about Solomon Northrup. Avery Brooks of "STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE" portrayed Northrup in a 1984 television biopic that was directed by Gordon Parks.
I\’ve liked Ejiofor since Dirty Pretty Things and Serenity. He\’s so smooth and has played \”North American\” quite well with Four Brothers and Inside Man.
Perfect. The cast gets better.
Plus, people, don\’t forget that Ejiofor is just as talented as Pitt and Fassbender (I\’m not playing a race card here btw)
What happened to the Fela Kuti biopic?
I hope everyone is as fucking excited as me to see this movie! Steve McQueen is slowly turning into one of my favorite directors as Hunger was cool and Shame (saw it at Toronto) was so amazing! Fassbender is already hot as fuck and a hella good actor! Pitt, as someone stated, needs to be recognized for the bold choices he makes. Ah shit! I\’m excited!
Sign me up… Fassbenber + Pitt (again) + McQueen = fuckin\’ a!
McQueen, Fassbender and Pitt…a great team and indeed the movie ll be a so superb…i so want to see this movie.
Exactly. Seems as it might take still some more time until people start to appreciate all those bold and exciting choices that Pitt made.
Brad Pitt has made the absolute best of his career. He makes one great decision after another.
I\’m really looking forward to this film. Ejiofor, Fassbender and McQueen are a dream team for me. I\’m not the biggest fan of Pitt but I\’m glad he\’s participating as this will make the film an easier sell and it\’s cool to see him getting involved with such an interesting project.