According to
Pajiba,
Brad Pitt and
Shia LaBeouf have been offered roles in the sea-based mystery thriller
Riptide, an original 'whodunnit' project that is being developed by Summit Entertainment. The studio are using some of their incredible Twilight wad of cash to entice two big names marquees, but we have to stress - only an offer has been put out to them and we should remember Pitt himself probably gets 12 scripts thrown at him per day. Riptide tells the story of;
a handyman, a young stock broker, and the stock brokers girlfriend. One of the men is found dead floating in the sea. The girlfriend is found at a nearby hotel. An investigator is called in to figure out what happened and why. It's all set aboard a ship called the Nautica.
LaBeouf is being eyed for the stock broker (yes, we know... he just played this part in Wall Street 2 and won't want to repeat himself), whilst Pitt is wanted as the investigator - by my reckoning it would be his first cop role since Se7en fifteen years ago,
though he did play a C.I.A. agent in Spy Game. Riptide was originally scribed by Brit t.v. writer
Richard McBrien (Spooks) but was then revised by
Peter Morgan, who is now spearheading the film. Morgan has some impressive work on his resume -
Frost /Nixon,
The Queen, and
The Last King Of Scotland, who has recently been afforded some free time because of
Bond 23's continual purgatory in development hell thanks to MGM's financial woes. I can see why a lot of people despise Shia LaBeouf (or The Beef, as the cool kids call him), but I personally have no tiff with the guy. He does his job and he's not as annoying as everyone says he is. And as for Brad Pitt, if he does take up the offer, then it ensures my ticket is paid to be seeing Riptide opening night. Though whether they both sign up probably depends on who the script can attract to direct. The concept sounds ok, but moreover it's original, which is a rarity these days with reboots and remakes flooding cinemas throughout the year, and even rarer that it can attract some name stars, so fingers crossed on this one. And with Peter Morgan outlining this piece, I can only see it becoming a damn good thriller.