Seven years. That's how long I've been waiting for Darius Marder to make another movie. It's finally happening, and you won't believe who he got.
Brad Pitt will star in "Connector," Marder's much-anticipated follow-up to "Sound of Metal," for Apple Original Films (via Deadline). Marder co-wrote the script with his sister Nina, from a story by Derek Cianfrance (who also came up with the story for "Sound of Metal").
The story takes place in 1970s New York and follows a working-class legend, a "sky-walking" ironworker who takes on forces much bigger than himself. Pitt as a blue-collar worker mixed up with crime in '70s Manhattan? Sold.
The film is still in development, but according to Deadline, Pitt really wants this to be the next thing he shoots in 2027. You know what? It'll probably happen. He has nothing else lined up imminently. Let's get this thing going.
I put "Sound of Metal" on my best of 2020 list. It premiered at TIFF in 2019 but wasn't released until the following year, and I'd still call it one of the best directing debuts of the decade. The funny thing is that hardly any of us saw it in a theater. It came out during the pandemic, so we all watched it at home. It's a film where sound is everything, and Riz Ahmed's Ruben, a metal drummer losing his hearing, puts you right inside his head.
It got six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, and won two, for Sound and Editing. Then Marder just went quiet. No follow-up, nothing. I kept checking. Now we know what he's been working on.
Pitt agreeing to star in his film is a goldmine for Marder. He just nabbed one of the last remaining movie stars for a '70s-set film. Pitt is coming off "F1," which made $600M+, and this year's low-key gem "Heart of the Beast" (nearly $200M worldwide). He will next be seen in "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth" this Thanksgiving and in Edward Berger's "The Riders" for A24 next year.
Given the low budget, “Ebenezer” will probably amount to a win for Depp. For West, I hope this was a one-time paycheck before he goes back to R-rated filmmaking.