Brad Pitt and his Plan B production company have picked up the rights to Tom Rachman’s newspaper industry drama The Imperfectionists, under their deal with India’s Reliance Big Media. At the moment, it seems Pitt only plans to produce, but that may change. He was originally down to star in State Of Play, but backed out, so he may see this is his opportunity to get into the uncertain world of newspapers.
Rachman’s novel is set at an English-language newspaper in Rome, following the lives of the reporters and editors as they try to keep the paper afloat, and also deal with endless personal drama. The author should know what he’s talking about as he’s been a wire service reporter himself stationed in Rome, and has seen the challenges old-fashioned ink has faces in the age of the internet.
Plan B now needs to find a writer and director for the film, but with Reliance giving the companies they work with fairly free reign, they should be able to get things moving pretty quickly.