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Sometimes, a Pitt stop proves fatal. Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain -- a dark, sci-fi mind-bender budgeted at $72 million -- was officially shut down Sept. 9 after a weekend summit between the Requiem for a Dream auteur and star Brad Pitt failed to persuade the actor to stay on the project, due to begin shooting in October with costars Cate Blanchett and Ellen Burstyn. Rumors had been flying for more than a week that Pitt wanted to split because he reportedly had gut-level reservations about the latest version of Aronofsky's script, linking three time periods centuries apart. Industry sources confirm that the latest draft was extremely challenging -- no surprise to fans of Aronofsky, who first emerged with the 1998 low-budget mathematician thriller p.

The Warner Bros. film was in preproduction in Australia, where many sets had already been constructed. Sources close to the production say the movie may be revived in six months to two years with another A-list actor. (Russell Crowe's name has been bandied about, though the Oscar winner's reps had no comment.) But Aronofsky won't be idle in the interim -- insiders say he's weighing four new offers. Meanwhile, Pitt's reps won't comment on reports that he fled The Fountain for a more lucrative role -- Achilles in Wolfgang Petersen's period epic Troy, for which he would receive his full $17.5 million price tag, as opposed to the bargain Fountain fee of $2 million to $6 million.

Despite the withdrawal, Pitt's publicist says that at press time the star was still sporting the shaggy Rip Van Winkle beard he grew specifically for Aronofsky's film. Perhaps he could jump-start that long-awaited ZZ Top biopic.


Posted Sep 20, 2002 | Published in issue #673 Sep 20, 2002 | Order Article Reprints