Entertainment

Brad Pitt Has An Amazing New Project

by Jennifer Still

Having books made into movies is not a new thing, particularly when it comes to the YA world. From The Hunger Games and Twilight to The Fault In Our Stars and Harry Potter, young adult novels are perfectly suited for big screen adaptation, and while it's vaguely depressing that original scripts are being looked over in favor of developing larger franchises, I can't lie and say I'm not into the idea of some of my favorite books brought to life on film. Brad Pitt must be into the idea, as well, as he joined up with Warner Bros. for a new and exciting project. Pitt's Plan B Entertainment will adapt Illuminae for the big screen, and the popular YA sci-fi novel by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is sure to be a hit.

Pitt will be producing Illuminae along with his Plan B partners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, and it's clear he must have been pretty excited about the prospect of the project, given that Illuminae only hit shelves last month. It became an immediate success, appearing on the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover Bestseller list in its very first week. Had Pitt not snapped it up, no doubt someone else would have pretty soon, so it was a lucky get, for sure.

Illuminae as a book is unconventional in format if nothing else. The story of a teenage hacker and her boyfriend (who also happens to be an ex-fighter pilot) is told through a series of found classified documents, texts, IMs, etc. The "story" here is one of intergalactic war with an enemy race in the year 2575, and it's incredibly cleverly told. From that synopsis alone, you can see how it would translate to the big screen, with massive special effects and plenty of action.

Pitt is the perfect person to be helming such an adaptation, as well. Plan B has been responsible for some of the best and most interesting films released since the company was founded nearly 15 years ago, from The Departed and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to Kick-Ass, 12 Years A Slave, and Selma. As you can tell, Plan B chooses varied projects from all different genres based on how good the potential for storytelling is, and isn't that what it's all about?

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Not only that, but Pitt is a father himself, and there's always a chance that at least one of his kids has read Illuminae. Even if they haven't, he'll at least have more of an eye for what kids and young adults would want to see in a movie and what would keep them entertained for two hours at the movie theater. Basically, this is an all around win/win situation.

Plan B is said to be currently searching for a screenwriter to pen the script for the Illuminae movie, and production should be underway not long after. As we know, Hollywood likes to strike while the iron is hot on book-to-movie franchises, so while the release is still a while out (my best guess is late 2016 or early 2017), at least we know it's coming sooner rather than later, and that's something to look forward to — as is the second Illuminae novel, because it's a trilogy, of course!