Filming has begun for Brad Pitt’s upcoming satirical comedy War Machine in Abu Dhabi, tabloid! can confirm. A reliable source tells us the actor is in town and has already begun work on the film, directed by David Michod, known for films such as The Animal Kingdom. There was no news on whether or not Pitt arrived with wife Angelina Jolie and their six children.
Twitter user @n_inab told tabloid! she saw Pitt leaving the set on Sunday evening in a white SUV. “He was seated in the back drinking water. Angelina wasn’t with him,” she said.
The family was spotted last week in Cambodia, the birth country of their oldest son Maddox, and also the setting of Jolie’s next directorial venture First They Killed My Father.
A few days before that, pictures emerged of a grey-haired Pitt in army fatigues on the War Machine set in London. Jolie and the couple’s youngest children, twins Knox and Vivienne were also spotted on set.
The couple, often referred to as Brangelina, will reunite on screen after their 2005 hit Mr & Mrs Smith, in a film directed by Jolie called By the Sea, out next month.
War Machine, funded by streaming service provider Netflix, is based on the bestselling book The Operators: The Wild And Terrifying Inside Story Of America’s War In Afghanistan by the late American journalist Michael Hastings. The book is based on Hasting’s interviews with general Stanley McChrystal who was appointed to command the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2009. McChrystal was forced to resign after an article was published in 2010 which described his less-than-stellar views of the Barack Obama management.
Pitt’s production company, Plan B entertainment, acquired the film adaptation rights, which will also star Anthony Michael Hall and Topher Grace.
Abu Dhabi, which has recently hosted many high-profile Hollywood shoots including Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Furious 7, is believed to be a stand-in for Afghanistan. The Abu Dhabi Film Commission offers a offers a generous 30 per cent cash rebate on production spend in Abu Dhabi.
