After 2003
Pitt had two major film roles in 2004, starring as Achilles in Troy, and making a second appearance as Rusty Ryan, in the sequel Ocean's Twelve. He spent six months sword training before the filming of Troy, based on the Iliad.[87] An on-set injury to his Achilles tendon delayed production on the picture for several weeks.[88] With a total worldwide gross of $497 million, Troy remains Pitt's most commercially successful picture to date. The film earned $364 million outside the U.S. and $133 million domestically.[24][89] Stephen Hunter of The Washington Times stated that Pitt excelled at such a demanding role.[90] Ocean's Twelve earned $362 million worldwide,[24] and Pitt and Clooney's dynamic was described (by CNN's Paul Clinton) as "the best male chemistry since Paul Newman and Robert Redford."[91]
In 2005, Pitt starred in the Doug Liman-directed action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, in which a bored married couple discover that each is an assassin sent to kill the other. The feature received reasonable reviews but was generally lauded for the chemistry between Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who played his character's wife Jane Smith. The Star Tribune noted that "while the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry."[92] Mr. & Mrs. Smith earned $478 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest hits of 2005.[93]
For his next feature film, Pitt starred opposite Cate Blanchett in Alejandro González Iñárritu's multi-narrative drama Babel (2006).[94] Pitt's performance was critically well-received, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said that he was credible and gave the film visibility.[95] Pitt later said he regarded taking the part as one of the best decisions of his career.[96] The film was screened at a special presentation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival[97] and was later featured at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.[98] Babel received seven Academy and Golden Globe award nominations, winning the Best Drama Golden Globe, and earned Pitt a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe.[37]
Reprising his role as Rusty Ryan in a third picture, Pitt starred in 2007's Ocean's Thirteen.[99] While less lucrative than the first two films, this sequel earned $311 million at the international box office.[24] Pitt's next film role was as American outlaw Jesse James in the 2007 Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name.[100] Directed by Andrew Dominik and produced by Pitt's company Plan B, the film premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival,[101] with Pitt playing a "scary and charismatic" role, according to Lewis Beale of Film Journal International,[102]and earning Pitt the Volpi Cup award for Best Actor at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.[103] Although Pitt attended the festival to promote the film, he left early after being attacked by a fan who pushed through his bodyguards.[104] He eventually collected the award one year later at the 2008 festival.[105]
Pitt's next appearance was in the 2008 black comedy Burn After Reading, his first collaboration with the Coen brothers. The film received a positive reception from critics, with The Guardian calling it "a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy",[106] noting that Pitt's performance was one of the funniest.[106] He was later cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher's 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a loosely adapted version of a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story follows a man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse,[107] with Pitt's "sensitive" performance making Benjamin Button a "timeless masterpiece," according to Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun.[108] The performance earned Pitt his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination,[109] as well as a fourth Golden Globe and second Academy Award nomination,[37][110] all in the category for Best Actor. The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations in total, and grossed $329 million at the box office worldwide.[24]
Since 2008, Pitt's work has included a leading role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, released in August 2009 at a special presentation at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[111] Pitt played Lieutenant Aldo Raine, an American resistance fighter battling Nazis in German-occupied France.[112] The film was a box office hit, taking $311 million worldwide,[24] and garnered generally favorable reviews.[113] The film received multiple awards and nominations, including eight Academy Award nominations and seven MTV Movie Award nominations, including Best Male Performance for Pitt.[114][115] He voiced the superhero character Metro Man in the 2010 animated feature Megamind.[116] Pitt appeared in Terrence Malick's drama The Tree of Life, co-starring Sean Penn, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[117] He has signed on to appear as a British explorer searching for a mysterious Amazonian civilization in The Lost City of Z, based on David Grann's 2009 book of the same name.[118] In a performance that attracted strong praise, he portrayed the Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane in the drama Moneyball, which is based on the 2003book of the same name written by Michael Lewis.[119] Moneyball received six Academy Award nominations including Best Actor for Pitt.[120]
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