Brad Pitt Interested in ‘Red Dead Redemption’ Movie

Aug 26, 2010 by Rob Keyes

Tags: red dead redemption

Brad Pitt is reportedly interested in starring as John Marston, the lead character of Red Dead Redemption, the year’s most highly talked about videogame from Rockstar Games.

Brad Pitt in Red Dead Redemption movie

Certainly the most publicized and arguably one of the best video games to debut in 2010 thus far is that of Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption. Instead of stealing cars and wreaking havoc downtown Grand Theft Auto style, Rockstar’s six years of development on Red Dead Redemption lets us jump into the old west to ride horses, hunt wildlife and track down your old gang members.

Gone are Uzis and Bazookas as we welcome six shooters and classic wooden rifles in the first game I’d label a real interactive cowboy simulator. Red Dead Redemption is possibly the most expensive video game ever made and you can see why while riding through the beautiful vast open world it takes us to. It features a story ripe for feature film adaptation and that’s precisely what Brad Pitt plans to do.

According to Showbiz Spy, Brad Pitt is looking to adapt the Game of the Year contender into a movie although absolutely no details are present and they don’t know much about the game what consoles it’s on. We also don’t know who has the rights to the project but their sources claim that Pitt is the favorite for the part and has been given first refusal rights. Take this is a big rumor.

The source continues:

“The idea is to make this in the style of an epic Western movie but with a few modern touches.”

While it’s no surprise at all that Red Dead Redemption will get a movie made from it, it’s interesting (and exciting) to see one of Hollywood’s biggest names associated with it. With Jon Favreau working away on Cowboys and Aliens and the Coen Brothers’ True Grit debuting this December, it looks like Westerns are making a bit of a comeback (Ignore Jonax Hex).

As we all know, video game movies always seem to end in an awful product but Red Dead Redemption *should* be different. It has strong characters, strong dialogue and a strong story already there – they just have to make a classic Western movie out of it. I say that as if it’s simple but we know how easily a studio and director can ruin this property like so many other video game franchises before.

The tale of Red Dead Redemption takes place in 1911 and follows protagonist John Marston, an ex-gang member whose family is held captive by government agents to force him to hunt down his old associates. Traveling from New Austin to Mexico and meeting some very memorable characters along the way, the game lets players experience the Old West like never before, with gameplay elements including authentic horseback riding, poker games, cattle herding to good ol’ gun fighting.

Brad Pitt as John Marston in Red Dead Redemption movie?

Brad Pitt played a cowboy as the title character in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and I can certainly picture him as John Marston, the silent but deadly lead in Red Dead Redemption. Get a tan, longer hair, some grime and scars and bingo!

[Update: There's a lot of discussion about whether or not Pitt is the right guy and today I thought Sean Bean would be perfect for this part - he just has to disguise the accent. Thoughts?]

If you happen to own a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360, this is a must-own title. Read our Red Dead Redemption posts on Game Rant.

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Source: Showbiz Spy