Brad Pitt Says Retirement Still a Long Way Off

Actor Brad Pitt poses on the red carpet before the screening of "Bullet Train" in Berlin, Germany, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)
Actor Brad Pitt poses on the red carpet before the screening of "Bullet Train" in Berlin, Germany, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)
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Brad Pitt Says Retirement Still a Long Way Off

Actor Brad Pitt poses on the red carpet before the screening of "Bullet Train" in Berlin, Germany, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)
Actor Brad Pitt poses on the red carpet before the screening of "Bullet Train" in Berlin, Germany, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)

Brad Pitt scotched talk of imminent retirement as he traveled to Paris for the premiere of his Jackie Chan-inspired action caper "Bullet Train".

The 58-year-old had worried fans that his acting days may be numbered after a GQ interview last month in which he said he was in the "last semester" of his career.

But Pitt told AFP: "I'm not getting out by any means.

"It seems that might have been taken as a statement of retirement. That's not what I was saying," he said.

"I'm over that hump of middle age and so I'm looking at that last leg... how do I want to spend that time? At my age, you've made enough mistakes... now there's a comfort in applying that kind of wisdom."

"Bullet Train", which is being released around the world over the next two weeks, sees Pitt trying something new in an action comedy from the director of "John Wick", David Leitch.

Pitt plays a reluctant hit-man fighting off rivals on a Japanese train.

"It's much more fun than the regular punch-up. It's infused with humor and character," he said.

"I can't say enough about Jackie Chan and what he's done, and to be in that arena, even close to that, is something I hadn't done before."

Pitt will next be seen in "Babylon" about Hollywood's golden age, directed by Damien Chazelle ("La La Land").

That will partner him again with Margot Robbie -- the pair starred in Quentin Tarantino's "Once upon a Time in Hollywood", which won Pitt an Oscar in 2020.

But Pitt said he takes particular enjoyment from production duties with his company Plan B.

The company has three best picture Oscar winners to its name -- "The Departed", "Twelve Years a Slave" and "Moonlight" -- and will soon release the hotly tipped "Blonde" about Marilyn Monroe.

"I really like what we've been able to do on the producing end. You get to be part of stories, foster new talent," he said.

Unlike other major movie stars such as Tom Cruise, Pitt is not as wedded to the nostalgia of movie theaters.

"I like the dichotomy, the streamer as well as the theater experience, because films were getting so expensive to do and to market that it was either big tent-pole movies or very small intimate movies and there was no room for anythings in-between. Streamers have opened it up for more voices," he said.

Nonetheless, Pitt said he had recently loved going to watch "Elvis" in a cinema.

"I'm a big fan of Austin Butler, I think he's going to do great work," said Pitt of the film's star.

"It was so much fun to be there again. There's a place for both."



Keke Palmer Comedy ‘One of Them Days’ and ‘Mufasa’ in Close Race for No. 1

 This image released by Sony Pictures shows Keke Palmer, left, and SZA in a scene from "One of them Days." (Sony Pictures via AP)
This image released by Sony Pictures shows Keke Palmer, left, and SZA in a scene from "One of them Days." (Sony Pictures via AP)
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Keke Palmer Comedy ‘One of Them Days’ and ‘Mufasa’ in Close Race for No. 1

 This image released by Sony Pictures shows Keke Palmer, left, and SZA in a scene from "One of them Days." (Sony Pictures via AP)
This image released by Sony Pictures shows Keke Palmer, left, and SZA in a scene from "One of them Days." (Sony Pictures via AP)

The Keke Palmer buddy comedy “One of Them Days” opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” by a hair. By the end of Monday's holiday, “Mufasa” will have the edge, however.

“One of Them Days” cost only $14 million to produce, which it is expected to earn by Monday. The very well-reviewed buddy comedy stars Palmer and SZA as friends and roommates scrambling to get money for rent before their landlord evicts them. Notably it’s the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since “Girls Trip” came out in 2017 and it currently carries a stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

But the marketplace was also quite weak overall. The total box office for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will add up to less than $80 million, according to data from Comscore, making it one of the worst Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997.

“For an individual film like ‘One of Them Days’ this was a great weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “You can still find success stories within what is overall a low grossing weekend for movie theaters.”

The Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa” was close by in second place with $11.5 million from the weekend, its fifth playing in theaters. Globally, the Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has made $588 million. It even beat a brand-new offering, the Blumhouse horror “Wolf Man,” which debuted in third place with $10.6 million from 3,354 North American theaters.

Writer-director Leigh Whannell’s monster tale starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner did not enter theaters with great reviews. It currently carries a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews don’t generally affect the success of horror movies in their first weekend, but audiences also gave it a lackluster C- CinemaScore in exit polls. The Blumhouse production and Universal Pictures release cost a reported $25 million to make and is expected to reach $12 million by the close of Monday’s holiday.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” was in fourth place with $8.6 million and “Den of Thieves 2” rounded out the top five with $6.6 million.

In specialty releases, Brady Corbert's 215-minute post-war epic “The Brutalist” expanded to 388 screens where it made nearly $2 million over the weekend. A24 reported that it sold out various 70mm and IMAX showings. The studio also re-released its Colman Domingo drama “Sing Sing” in theaters and prisons, where over 1 million incarcerated people in 46 states were able to view the film.

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend has seen major successes in the past. Dergarabedian noted “Bad Boys for Life,” which had a three-day opening of $62.5 million in 2020, and “American Sniper,” which earned $89.3 in its first weekend in wide release in 2016.

“This is a year that’s going to get a big boost starting with ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ and ‘Paddington in Peru’ in February,” Dergarabedian said.