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Darren Aronofsky: Brad Pitt
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The Fountain, a private obsession of Aronofsky's for years, was originally envisioned as a big-budget epic, with megastars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in the lead roles. They fell out, and the project languished until Aronofsky scaled it back and reconceived it as a smaller, more intimate film. It was completed nearly two years ago, but it arrives in theaters Nov. 22 and is certain to generate controversy. Some critics booed it when it screened at this year's Venice Film Festival, and a few walked out at the Toronto Film Festival. But others cheered the film when it screened at Comic-Con International this past July. When it opens this week, Aronofsky will have altered only one scene to clarify the film's themes; otherwise, it plays as he intended.
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Aronofsky ... talks about The Fountain, including Brad Pitt's long involvement and sudden departure from the project. "I didn't see it coming," he says about Pitt leaving. "I had been prepping in Australia for six months, on and off. They send films over there to save money, but you end up being thousands of miles apart from your team. Whispers started that might've created fear and doubt. Creatively, the film was always what it was. You either take that risk and do something that's 'out there,' or you don't."
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Aronofsky's six-year journey to get "The Fountain" to the screen comes off as a more benign version of the obsessive quests his antiheroes often pursue. Originally set to begin shooting in late 2002 with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, the production fell apart in a spate of still-unexplained "creative differences."
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