The Bulletin: Pitt Joins Aronofsky's 'Fighter'

Brad Pitt will substitute for Matt Damon in Darren Aronofsky's "The Fighter," about Massachusetts bruiser Micky “Irish” Ward’s unlikely climb to be a lightweight champion with the support of half-brother Dicky Eklund as his KO’d trainer, reports Variety. Pitt will star as Eklund, a part once fit for Damon, and Mark Wahlberg, as Ward. Conflict's in Damon's schedule, due in part to production gridlock as a Hollywood strike nears, left Damon unable to commit. Paul Attanasio (“Donnie Brasco,” “The Good German”) rewrote Lewis Collick, Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy’s script, but Scott Silver will submit a new draft. David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman will produce.

More Women Join 'The Women'
Bette Midler, Cloris Leachman, Carrie Fisher, Lynn Whitfield, Joanna Gleason, Ana Gasteyer and Debi Mazar will star in Diane English's update of George Cukor's "The Women" (1939), in production in Boston, reports Variety. Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Candice Bergen co-star. Victoria Pearman, Mick Jagger and Bill Johnson will produce with English.

Bruckheimer's 'Nine Lives'
Jerry Bruckheimer will produce Jonathan Hensleigh's pitch "Nine Lives," about a superstitiously invincible detective, reports Variety. Hensleigh will write the script. "Nine Lives" is Hensleigh's fifth assignment for Bruckheimer ("The Rock," "Armageddon," "Con Air," "Gone in 60 Seconds").

'Southland Tales' Trailer Available
The trailer for Richard Kelly's goofy apocalypto "Southland Tales" (Nov. 9), with Seann William Scott, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, is available in Quicktime at Yahoo! Movies.