Brad Pitt is one of those names that always appears at the top of any list, and the producers behind The Operators are after him to star in and produce the new drama, which already has Animal Kingdom’s David Michôd aboard direct.
Despite sounding like it would be the chronicle of lift workers in the 1950s, or perhaps tales from a switchboard, this is all based on the late journalist Michael Hastings’ book that chronicled the rise and fall of US Army General Stanley McChrystal.
He was the charismatic commanding general of American and international forces in Afghanistan who was known for his strategic smarts and his lack of subtlety when it came criticising civilian leaders, including the White House. Hastings profiled him several times, including a notorious piece for Rolling Stone, in which McChrystal displayed uncompromising candour that eventually led to calls for him to apologise and his removal from his command position. He retired shortly after that.
Michôd, whose latest film The Rover is due out in the US on June 13 but has yet to reveal a UK date, is currently busy on the pilot of Breaking Bad writer/producer Moira Walley-Beckett’s ballet drama for Starz, Flesh And Bone. Pitt, meanwhile, will be a commander of a different stripe in World War II action drama Fury (or whatever it's officially called in the end), which arrives on October 24.