There are many stories behind why certain actors end up starring in some movies, and it looks like Brad Pitt’s appearance inThe Lost Cityhas such a story. The new comedy adventure movie starringSandra Bullockand Channing Tanum arrives in theaters this month, and according to a report inThe Hollywood Reporter, the inclusion of Pitt came down to a pep talk by their mutual hairdresser.
Originally calledThe Lost City of D, after the title of a book that features in the movie,The Lost Citysees Bullock playing an author is kidnapped by Daniel Radcliffe’s Abigail Fairfax, who wants her to tell him the location of a fabled lost city that appears in her latest novel. Bullock’s character Loretta Sage then finds herself caught up in a dangerous jungle adventure, with Channing Tatum’s would-be hero Alan Caprison andBrad Pitt’s dashing agent both attempting to save her from Fairfax’s clutches.
The Lost Citywas given its world premiere at SXSW, and following the showing, Bullock explained how it came to be that Pitt was in the movie at all, and in turn how she appears in his upcomingBullet Train. She said:
“He and I have the same hairdresser and she told him to do my movie and she told me to do his movie. That is — honest to god — the truth. We went through a whole litany of people. He was like the eighth choice.”
The Lost Citywas originally announced in October 2020, with filming taking place during the summer of last year in the Dominican Republic, and plodding on through a pandemic seems to have been worth it as the first reviews to make it to Rotten Tomatoes have all been positive. The main draw of the film, apart from its star-studded cast, seems to be the throwback feel to the kind of adventure movies that originated way back in 1940s serials and then led to the likes of theIndiana Jonesmovies, the Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner filmsRomancing The Stoneand its sequelThe Jewel of The Nile, and more recently theJumanjifilms.
Paramount’s official synopsis for the new movie reads:
“Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan, who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.”
