Brad Pitt to star in long-await adaptation of classic Tim Winton novel
Brad Pitt and some of the biggest names in Hollywood have signed on for the long-awaited movie adaptation of the Tim Winton novel, The Riders.
The Riders was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1995 and follows a man who travels around Europe with his daughter looking for their wife and mother who has gone missing.
The movie will be directed by Edward Berger (Conclave, All Quiet on the Western Front) and produced by Ridley Scott via his Scott Free company.
Production will reportedly start in early 2026, shooting in multiple locations across Europe.
Written by acclaimed Australian author Winton in 1994, The Riders follows Australian man, Fred Scully, and his seven-year-old daughter Billie.
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Sculley and his wife Jennifer have planned to move from Australia to a cottage in Ireland. but only Billie arrives to join him.
The story follows Scully and Billie as they retracing the steps of their previous travel around Europe in an attempt to find Jennifer.
It is not known how true the movie will stick to the original plot, which relied heavily on Australian themes, or whether Pitt will attempt an Australian accent for the role.
US screenwriter David Kajganich (The Terror) will adapt the screenplay.
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The upcoming film, to be distributed by A4 is not the first attempt to turn The Riders into a movie.
In 2012 it was announced that Sam Worthington was cast in the lead role alongside British actors Timothy Spall and Charles Dance.
When that project never eventuated, Ronan Keating, Luke Hemsworth, and Mark Strong were linked as possible cast of a new production.
The Riders is just the latest in a long line of Winton’s works to be adapted for the screen.
Breath, Dirt Music, In The Winter Dark, The Turning and That Eye in the Sky have all been made as feature films, while Cloudstreet, and the Lockie Leonard children’s books have been adapted for television.
Cloudstreet (2010) is just one of the Winton works adapted for the screen. Photo: Screentime
Winton, 64, was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1997 and has won the Miles Franklin Award four times.
He was was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2023 for “distinguished service to literature as an author and novelist, to conservation, and to environmental advocacy”.
Winton’s latest novel, The Juice, was published last year and depicts a dystopian future ravaged by climate change.
Pitt was last seen starring opposite George Clooney in the action comedy Wolfs and will next be seen in motor racing F1, both on Apple +.
