Aside from a memorable conclusion, one of the most significant elements of the 2017 Oscars telecast was Netflix’s advertising blitz for its Will Smith-led fantasy film, Bright. A subsequent teaser for Bong Joon-ho’s Okja added more fuel to the streaming fire on Tuesday. So does this mean Netflix will debut yet another preview of its coming cinematic plate? Thanks to Brad Pitt’s War Machine, the answer is a confident and proud “yes.”
Purchased for a whopping $60 million by Netflix from Pitt’s Plan B, the David Michod-written and directed adaptation of Michael Hastings’ The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan details the rise and fall of General Glenn McMahon. McMahon (Pitt) is based on the real life General Stanley McChrystal, whose alleged “rock star” lifestyle in defiance of President Barack Obama’s direct orders were profiled in a famous Rolling Stone article by Hastings.
War Marchine, which co-stars Anthony Michael Hall, Tilda Swinton and Topher Grace, is described by the Hollywood Reporter “as an absurdist war story for our times [that] looks at General McMahon’s roller-coaster ride in a mix of reality and parody.” This, along with Pitt’s self-assured tone and posture as McMahon in the teaser’s final scene, makes the movie sound like a weird continuation of Lt. Aldo Raine’s legacy in Inglorious Basterds.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)
