--- title: Film: Netflix Secures Brad Pitt Movie About General Stanley McChrystal description: Pitt will star in the film as General McChrystal canonical: https://time.com/3912704/netflix-brad-pitt-general-mcchrystal/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-08T16:50:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:00:37.549Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Netflix Snaps Up Brad Pitt Movie About General Stanley McChrystal og:description: Pitt will star in the film as the "runaway general" og:url: https://time.com/3912704/netflix-brad-pitt-general-mcchrystal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf57db17ecfebda5a/698853695f570f306bb1bdc7/459976300-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Brad Pitt attends a "Fury" in West Hollywood, Calif. on Dec. 4, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Netflix Snaps Up Brad Pitt Movie About General Stanley McChrystal twitter:description: Pitt will star in the film as the "runaway general" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf57db17ecfebda5a/698853695f570f306bb1bdc7/459976300-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Netflix Snaps Up Brad Pitt Movie About General Stanley McChrystal by [Tatiana Siegel, Natalie Jarvey / The Hollywood Reporter](https://time.com/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## Tatiana Siegel, Natalie Jarvey / The Hollywood Reporter Jun 8, 2015 4:50 PM UTC  Brad Pitt attends a "Fury" in West Hollywood, Calif. on Dec. 4, 2014. Brad Pitt attends a "Fury" in West Hollywood, Calif. on Dec. 4, 2014.Ari Perilstein—Getty Images for LTPR by [Tatiana Siegel, Natalie Jarvey / The Hollywood Reporter](https://time.com/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## Tatiana Siegel, Natalie Jarvey / The Hollywood Reporter Jun 8, 2015 4:50 PM UTC Netflix has scooped up rights to the Brad Pitt film about the rise and fall of General Stanley McChrystal that was being shopped at the Cannes film market. _Animal Kingdom_ helmer David Michod wrote the screenplay and will direct the satire, originally titled _The Operators_ and now dubbed _War Machine_, which will be produced by Netflix and Pitt’s Plan B. New Regency and RatPac Entertainment, who were once onboard the project, are no longer involved. The film, which begins shooting in August, will be streamed in 2016 on Netflix and get a theatrical release as well. Based on the late Michael Hastings’ controversial best-seller _The Operators_, the story centers on the commanding general of international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan and offers a behind-the-scenes portrait of our military commanders, their high-stakes maneuvers and the ensuing political firestorm that shook the United States when he was forced to resign. But the film has changed course from its original dramatic vision when the rights were bought and will now be tonally in the vein of _Wag the Dog_. Pitt will star as Gen. McChrystal. “_War Machine_ is a rip-roaring, behind-the-facade tale of modern war decision-makers, from the corridors of power to the distant regions of America’s ambitions,“ Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said. “Brad and David are a perfect team to make this timely, compelling and entertaining film.” Added Pitt: “We are so excited to be a part of the inspiring commitment by Netflix to produce cutting-edge content and to deliver it to a global audience.” The project has been around since Pitt optioned Hastings book, which stemmed from a _Rolling Stone_ article, in 2013\. Michod boarded the project a year ago and began adapting the screenplay. “I’m humbled to be making a big, bold movie about the whole sprawling, complex, cumbersome and crazy machinery of modern war and the many lives it touches,” Michod said. Plan B partners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner also are producing alongside Ian Bryce. CAA, which reps Pitt, represented domestic rights. **Updated:** CAA, not UTA, negotiated the deal. _This_ [_article_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-nabs-brad-pitt-film-794769) _originally appeared on_ [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com)_._ _More from The Hollywood Reporter:_ * [Hollywood’s 100 Favorite Films](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/list/100-greatest-films-all-time-713215) * [2015 Summer Movie Guide: Sequels… Comedy… Action!](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/2015-summer-movie-guide-sequels-796697) * [Summer’s 23 Most Intriguing Indie Films](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/summers-23-intriguing-indie-films-795013) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3912704/netflix-brad-pitt-general-mcchrystal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3912704/netflix-brad-pitt-general-mcchrystal/"},"headline":"Netflix Snaps Up Brad Pitt Movie About General Stanley McChrystal","datePublished":"2015-06-08T16:50:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:00:37.549Z","description":"Based on the late Michael Hastings' controversial best-seller The Operators","url":"https://time.com/3912704/netflix-brad-pitt-general-mcchrystal/","keywords":["movies","Netflix","Brad Pitt","Cannes Film Festival"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf57db17ecfebda5a/698853695f570f306bb1bdc7/459976300-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tatiana Siegel, Natalie Jarvey / The Hollywood Reporter"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf57db17ecfebda5a/698853695f570f306bb1bdc7/459976300-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Brad Pitt attends a \"Fury\" in West Hollywood, Calif. on Dec. 4, 2014.","caption":"Brad Pitt attends a \"Fury\" in West Hollywood, Calif. on Dec. 4, 2014.","creditText":"Ari Perilstein—Getty Images for LTPR","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3912704/netflix-brad-pitt-general-mcchrystal/","name":"Netflix Snaps Up Brad Pitt Movie About General Stanley McChrystal"}}]}] ```