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- Brad Pitt had a nice year in 2022. Earlier in the year, he starred in the action-comedy Babylon. In the latter movie, Pitt is part of an ensemble cast as a popular silent film star attempting to navigate life during the transition of Hollywood from the silent era to the talkies. With a fun light action movie and a serious award contender, Pitt continues to prove that he is one of Hollywood's top talents, even if his box office totals might not match some of his contemporaries.
Actor Brad Pitt is more than just an A-lister. This Oscar winner has starred in more critically acclaimed films than most. Pitt has proven his versatile talent throughout the years in everything from his own starring efforts to movies where he helped steal the show in a ing role.
At the same time, Pitt has also done some impressive work behind the scenes as a producer. In fact, some even think there are enough movies that prove that Pitt is a better producer than a director. As far as the films he’s starred in though, they became classics, fan favorites, and made quite a splash at the box office.
UPDATE: 2023/01/17 09:20 EST BY SHAWN S. LEALOS
Brad Pitt had a nice year in 2022. Earlier in the year, he starred in the action-comedy Babylon. In the latter movie, Pitt is part of an ensemble cast as a popular silent film star attempting to navigate life during the transition of Hollywood from the silent era to the talkies. With a fun light action movie and a serious award contender, Pitt continues to prove that he is one of Hollywood's top talents, even if his box office totals might not match some of his contemporaries.
Burn After Reading (2008) - $163.7 Million
Stream now on HBO Max
The Coen Brothers have never been big box office sensations, with only True Grit breaking the $200 million mark at the box office. What might surprise some fans is that Burn After Reading is the second-highest-grossing movie of the brothers' career, even higher than No Country for Old Men. One thing that Burn After Reading had going for it was Brad Pitt stealing the show.
Pitt played completely against type in this movie. Instead of the smoldering leading man, he played a gym employee who had no idea how ridiculous he looked. In the movie, he teamed up with a co-worker to attempt to extort money from a former CIA analyst when they find a disc that they believe has classified government information on it. Things did not end well for Pitt's hapless Chad Feldheimer.
12 Monkeys (1995) - $168.8 Million
Rent now on Prime Video & Apple TV
In 1995, former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam directed what might be his masterpiece. The movie was 12 Monkeys and was a time travel story with a man traveling back in time to find out what caused a world-ending event. Bruce Willis was the time traveler and Brad Pitt played the man he thought might be responsible.
This was one of Pitt's first attempts to move out of his comfort zone, giving up his good-looking leading man persona for an unhinged man who played up his overbearing nature. Pitt went from a man in a psychiatric hospital spouting conspiracy theories to a man on the outside, the son of a wealthy scientist, who hatched a plan to change the world.
12 Years a Slave (2013) - $187.7 Million
Stream now on HBO Max
Brad Pitt won an Oscar as the producer of the Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, but he also has a small role in the harrowing drama. It tells the true story of Solomon Northrup, a free man who was abducted and sold into slavery for many years. Pitt has a brief role as a Canadian carpenter Solomon meets during his years of captivity.
Though it is somewhat surprising that a movie so difficult to watch drew in such a large audience, the rave reviews and important true story made it a movie that could not be missed. Based on critics Rotten Tomatoes scores, it is Brad Pitt's best movie.
The Lost City (2022) - $190.8 Million
Stream now on Prime Video & Paramount+
It is fun to see The Lost City was his latest scene-stealing small part. The adventure-comedy stars Sandra Bullock as an adventure author who is kidnaped, leading to her book cover model (Channing Tatum) heading to the jungle to save her.
The star power of the two leads was too much for audiences to ignore, and the movie offered a throwback adventure with plenty of laughs. The trailers for the movie also made sure to highlight Pitt's appearance as a special forces operative who gets involved with the rescue mission.
Fury (2014) - $210.3 Million
Stream now on Starz
The intense war movie Fury is set near the end of World War II as a young replacement officer (Logan Lerman) s a small tank company led by a commander known as Wardaddy (Pitt). The movie depicts the young man's struggles with facing the horrors of war while being taught by his cold and ruthless leader.
Fans seem to love seeing Pitt in these gruff military roles as it was another big hit for the actor. It likely helped that he and Lerman were ed by the likes of Jon Bernthal and Michael Pena to make a very exciting ensemble.
Interview With The Vampire (1994) - $223.6 Million
Stream now on Pluto TV
Pitt stepping into the vampire world for Interview with the Vampire. He plays a plantation owner in the 1700s who is transformed into a vampire by a creature of the night named Lestat. The two men form a bond as Pitt's Louis struggles with his new eternal life.
Just like today, Pitt and Cruise were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time, and seeing them paired on screen together was very exciting for fans. The fact that the movie also adapts the popular novel by Anne Rice likely added to its box office success.
Bullet Train (2022) - $238.7 Million
Stream now on Netflix
Brad Pitt is aging gracefully, and in 2022, he took on a role as a hitman in the action-adventure comedy Bullet Train. In the movie, his sends him on a train to recover a briefcase. However, things go wrong when he isn't the only person hired to retrieve this briefcase, and everyone wants everyone else dead.
The movie had a nice box office run, as a colorful action movie with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor throughout. It was also loaded with familiar faces, and Pitt was able to play off his great ing cast to turn in another fun, entertaining action movie as the leading man.
Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) $311.3 Million
Stream now on DirecTV
Released in 2007, this was the last Ocean’s film that starred Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan alongside George Clooney’s Danny Ocean. In this installment, Danny Ocean and his crew plot revenge against Al Pacino’s Willy Bank after he double-crossed Danny’s mentor, Reuben Tishkoff.
Even if the film had done relatively well at the box office worldwide, Pitt made it clear that he was already done with the franchise. In fact, Pitt’s life goals include not having to make Ocean’s 14. When the franchise returned to the big screen, it introduced an all-female Ocean’s 8 crew.
Inglorious Basterds (2009) - $321.4 Million
Stream now on DirecTV
Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds is set during the first year of the German occupation in . In the movie, Brad Pitt plays Lt. Aldo Raine, the leader of a band of Jewish soldiers who take particularly brutal retribution on the Nazis.
Though Aldo is not one of Pitt's most intelligent characters, he is one of the most entertaining. Despite the R-rating and long runtime, audiences were thrilled with Tarantino's madcap war movie. It ended up becoming one of Tarantino's highest-grossing movies and was nominated for several Oscars.
Megamind (2010) - $321.8 Million
Stream now on Netflix & Peacock
Though Brad Pitt has avoided any large roles in the comic book movie genre, he did play a superhero in the animated comedy Megamind. The movie stars Will Ferrell as the titular supervillain who begins to question his life when his heroic nemesis Metro Man (Pitt) is seemingly destroyed.
While the movie did not hit the same heights of popularity as The Incredibles, the combination of superheroes and family-friendly animation proved to be a big hit. It was also fun seeing Pitt in a rare animated role as the hero with some amusing secrets.
