HOLLYWOOD - Heartthrob Brad Pitt finally may be getting rid of that skanky beard he's been sporting lately.The actor has pulled out of director Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain seven weeks before the shooting was set to start in Australia, and the film's 1,000 crew members who are now out of work are reportedly furious at Pitt.
According to Australia's The Daily Telegraph, a disgruntled worker on the set of The Fountain said most crew members were informed Friday that their services were no longer required and problems with some being paid were anticipated.
"A lot of work so far has been done on good will. Purchase orders were already in place
--hopefully they will be paid for," he told the paper.
Aronofsky's sci-fi epic tells the tale of one man's psychological journey set in the present as well as 500 years into the past and future. Cate Blanchett and Ellen Burstyn were set to star alongside Pitt.
The Ain't It Cool News Web site published an open letter from some of the crew members hired to build and paint the film's massive sets, blasting Pitt for his "Hollywood prima donna antics."
"Apparently, Brad cannot be talked back into the film," the site reported the letter as saying.
"The real bummer is for the 400 or so crew who have flown in from all corners of Australia and overseas--out on their asses. What amazes us is that it appears Brad Pitt has no real understanding of the impact of his decision, now only seven weeks from shooting.
"We estimate there is over 1,500 people here in Australia, including family and children, who are now displaced and unemployed.
"Word from the top is that we have to carefully wrap and store the enormous sets we have built, because the picture will go ahead, probably in twelve months time, with another star. Someone, hopefully, who is a bit more respectful of all the 'little people' who make their stars shine," the letter said.
According to Variety, Pitt opted out of Aronofsky's The Fountain due to concerns over the complex script, and will likely move on to play Achilles in Wolfgang Petersen's Iliad update Troy. This also translates to a bigger paycheck for Pitt, who had agreed to $6 million for The Fountain in order to keep the budget manageable. He will reportedly command his full $17.5 million salary for Troy. Both projects are set up by Warner Bros.
Variety reports that the Troy talks now depend on reaching a resolution that would allow the studio to pay some of The Fountain's $8-$10 million pre-production costs by subtracting some of Pitt's compensation for Troy.
Meanwhile, The Fountain's future remains uncertain. Studio execs have reportedly been calling around town about replacements for Pitt, but it remains unclear if the project will go ahead.
That won't help the Australian crew however, who say they have coined a new Aussie phrase. "When someone shafts you: 'You've been Pitted,'" the letter concludes.