THERE was once a time when Brad Pitt’s name was enough to guarantee a huge hit movie.
He was Hollywood’s ultimate golden boy — a box-office draw, a heartthrob and always half of a red carpet couple.
But after years of divorce misery, family heartbreak, booze battles and an increasingly bruising public image, Brad’s seemingly untouchable star power began to fade.
But now he is back — at 62 — with a flurry of new films and, finally, a relationship that is said to bring him “peace”.
And his Hollywood prowess is not lost on fellow celebrities.
When screen veteran Tom Cruise was asked about being dubbed “the last movie star”, he was quick to hint the title should be Brad’s, hailing him a “great actor”.
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And it is little wonder. This week alone, he has a string of big projects to celebrate.
His survival thriller, Heart Of The Beast, is in cinemas today.
And the first trailer for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth has dropped. It is a film that sends Brad back into one of his most beloved roles — the fearless stuntman from Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood, for which he won an Oscar.
Directed by David Fincher and written by Tarantino, it shows Cliff, a man who seemed permanently relaxed even amid violence, now working as a Hollywood fixer.
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Another announcement in recent days revealed that World War Z will have a sequel, more than a decade after the 2013 zombie blockbuster hit our screens.
Brad will star in and produce the film.
Meanwhile, the Seven actor has just wrapped filming The Riders with WWZ director Edward Berger.
He is also expected to reunite with George Clooney for another instalment of the Ocean’s franchise, Ocean’s 14, a sequel to 2007’s Ocean’s Thirteen.
It could see him back on screen with Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle.
So, all in all, not a bad few days for a bloke who could soon be collecting his bus pass.
But how has he managed to escape his private misery and questionable film choices to bounce back?
Many close to the star put it down to him finalising his painful divorce from Angelina Jolie, 51, the mother of his six children, and forming a new, more stable relationship with jewellery executive Ines de Ramon, 33.
After splitting from Ange, the Fight Club actor swore off booze, but admits he has recently started drinking small amounts after seven years sober.
But it seems his allies never believed alcohol was the root of his troubles, with one source telling the Daily Mail: “Pitt never had a drinking problem — he had an Angelina problem.
“He’s worked really hard on himself and he’s now finally in a really good place.
“Brad lost his way for a period and struggled, but he did the work and came through. The divorce from Angelina was bad, but the alienation from his children was the worst thing that ever happened to him.
“Now, he’s gone from hurt and pain to acceptance.”
A longtime pal added: “Brad’s fundamentally a Midwestern boy at heart.
“He’s a good guy. He is very close to his family and is still friends with people he met right at the start of his career. But after he married Angie, his life spiralled down a rabbit hole.
“They were happy for a while, but when things went bad, they went very, very bad.”
It has been ten years since their divorce proceedings began. Following years of legal battles, their marriage legally ended in 2024.
Five of Brad’s six children — Maddox, 25, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, both 18 — have now dropped “Pitt” from their surname. It is understood Pax, 22, is the only one still using it.
In an interview with Esquire last month, Brad admitted events had taken such a toll, he experienced “one little period” when he understood why people might take their life.
He said: “I thought, ‘Oh, OK, now I understand. I understand suicide, in the sense that it’s just relief’.
DOG TALE A HEART ACT TO FOLLOW
THE HEART OF THE BEAST
(12A) 101mins ****
IT is a joy to watch a film featuring a beloved, faithful dog and knowing it is not going to die.
Let’s face it, there’s no bigger tearjerker in cinema.
And that is what the audience is given in the opening scene of this incredible survival film, with German Shepherd Odin patiently waiting in the road to be collected.
We are then taken back a week to see former Army Special Forces soldier James Belmont (Brad Pitt) and retired combat dog Odin landing in the Alaskan wilderness.
James has endless physical and mental scars from his time serving, which are on his body and shown in flashbacks.
The dog, too, is missing a leg, has titanium teeth and nightmares that wake him barking.
The pair’s backstory is mostly delivered in a short scene when James bumps into a fellow lone wanderer in the forest, played with gentle care by JK Simmons.
The two men have a few beers together one evening and talk about their various life wounds.
This is the film’s only human interaction.
Soon, James and Odin have to put their survival instincts into practice when James has a heart attack while flying.
With little dialogue, Brad shows so much through his facial expressions and body language.
His delivery is remarkable.
And Odin (whose real name is Uber) has such range in his eyes and face that it often feels as though he is delivering one of Shakespeare’s sonnets when simply barking.
Heart Of The Beast manages to convey something only very lucky humans understand: The incredible trust that can form between humans and the animals who are so loyal to us. And how it can often be the most authentic love of all.
Dulcie Pearce
Rating: 4 stars
“It’s just looking for relief from the pain. But I also think we have incredible survival instincts. And for me, that immediately kicked in.”
The actor, who was also married to Friends star Jennifer Aniston from 2000 to 2005, added: “This s**t ain’t easy. And you’re talking to a guy who won the lottery.”
Brad’s current girlfriend Ines is almost half his age. But one source close to the couple revealed she has “brought a lot of peace” into his life, while another said their relationship was “easy and natural”. The couple were first linked in late 2022, when they were spotted together at a Bono concert.
By February 2024, she had moved in with the actor and enjoyed a red carpet summer. Events they attended included the Venice Film Festival, where they went public as a couple while Brad promoted Wolfs, as well as the US Open.
This weekend, they were in Bristol, Tennessee, where Brad served as grand marshal at NASCAR’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race, giving the command to start the race as he promoted Heart Of The Beast.
The pair also attended Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in July, along with 1,000 others.
Brad said of the event: “It was big. At one point I lost Ines in the melee.”
Having previously spoken about attending Alcoholics Anonymous, and publicly thanking his friend Bradley Cooper for helping him get sober, it seems Brad’s relationship with alcohol has changed.
He told Esquire last month that he does now drink again, adding: “I was sober for seven years and then I got back off the wagon. In a more restrained manner.
“I got over-confident a couple times, went, ‘Yep, nope, not good for me. Not in big quantities’. Yeah. Well . . . I can have a few [glasses of wine]. But I can’t have a lot.”
As well as battles in his personal life over the past few years, including the death of his mum Jane in 2025, Brad has faced a rollercoaster at the box office. He lurched from expensive flop Babylon to Bullet Train and Wolfs. Even racing film F1 was dismissed by actor Jodie Foster as so formulaic, it looked like AI had made it.
Now back with exciting, high-profile parts, Brad’s championing by Tom Cruise is understandable.
The Mission: Impossible star, who was in 1994’s Interview With The Vampire alongside Brad, name-checked the actor when asked about his own nickname, “the last movie star”. “Pitt is a great actor, great star, great charisma,” he insisted.
It seems Brad is most definitely back.