The work of Buzzfeed and Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings has been crucial to our understanding of the global war on terror and the various government spying programs our intelligence agencies are engaged in. His death last year, under very suspicious circumstances, left a reporting void that has yet to be filled, but now one of his biggest stories is headed to the big screen backed by Brad Pitt.
Pitt is circling a starring role in The Operators, based on Hastings' devastating 2011 book about the rise and fall of General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. Pitt will produce through Plan B, which New Regency and RatPac also involved on the production side. David Michod (Animal Kingdom) has agreed to write and direct the adaption, which Hastings put together from more than 20 hours of interview footage with McChrystal, during which he caught the General being openly dismissive and contemptuous of the White House foreign policy, leading to his resignation.
Nothing on when this will begin filming, but it's definitely material certainly deserving of increased exposure. Pitt will be seen next in David Ayer's WWII tank thriller, Fury, while Michod has completed The Rover starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce.
