Brad Pitt and George Clooney play two lone-wolf fixers in the upcoming action thriller, Wolfs. The film is written and directed by Jon Watts, who exited the Marvel Cinematic Universe to pursue this script. Watts revealed in a recent interview that he was pranked by George Clooney and Brad Pitt even before the two began shooting for the film.
Watts directed the three Spider-Man films for the MCU, including the near-$2 billion-grossing No Way Home. He was the initial choice to direct Pedro Pascal’s The Fantastic Four but he left the project last year. The film was initially announced to be a wide theatrical release but Apple Studios changed its stance earlier this year.
Wolfs Director Jon Watts Fell Victim to A Prank By George Clooney and Brad Pitt
When Jon Watts took the bold decision to walk away from the superhero genre, he had a strong script in mind. However, he knew that even with a good script, he needed big names in the industry to get this big-budget movie approved. Watts pitched his story of Wolfs to George Clooney, who heard the story alongside his producing partner Grant Heslov at Smokehouse Pictures.
Clooney was impressed with the story and decided to act in the film as one of the leads. Watts had Brad Pitt in mind to play the other lead and was about to pitch the Fight Club actor the next day. However, Clooney had a warning for the Cop Car director about pitching to Pitt, sharing that he was a hard sell.
The Batman actor told Watts that Pitt was very picky about his roles and that Watts needed a strong pitch to win him over. Watts shared with The Hollywood Reporter what Clooney had told him, “Brad’s going to be tough. He’s very picky about his projects. You really want to have this really dialed in when you pitch to Brad.”
Watts took Clooney’s advice at face value and didn’t even sleep that night. He was exhausted when he met with Pitt over Zoom the next day. To his surprise, Pitt had already heard the pitch from Clooney and was ready to jump in. He told Watts, “Two fixers. Same job. I get it, man. George told me the whole thing. It’ll be fun. Let’s do it.”
The Spider-Man director realized that Clooney and Pitt had pranked him from the beginning. He shared, “And that was my pitch to Brad Pitt. They were just f*cking with me from the beginning.” Watts further shared that the duo was fun to work with. Despite working on big-budget superhero projects, Watts found the filming of Wolfs to be a new experience.
Apple Studios Pivoted Their Plan For George Clooney’s Wolfs Which Makes No Financial Sense
George Clooney and Brad Pitt also served as producers on the film through their respective production houses, Smokehouse and Plan B Entertainment. When Apple acquired the film, Clooney shared that he and Pitt took a cut on their salary to make sure that the film had a theatrical release (via Deadline).
Last December, Apple entered into a deal with Sony Pictures Releasing to distribute the film in theaters (via Deadline). However, earlier this month, Apple Studios changed their stance about a wide release and shared that the film will only have a limited release for a week (via The New York Times). The film will then debut on AppleTV+.
Clooney and Pitt seem to be on board this plan as reports emerged that they will return for a sequel (via Deadline).
Wolfs will be released in theaters on September 20, 2024, and it will debut on AppleTV+ on September 27, 2024.
