From Variety: “Universal Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Angelina Jolie’s next film project, “By The Sea,” which will be written and directed by Jolie and star herself and Brad Pitt.

It marks the first time the duo has appeared onscreen together since 2005’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

Jolie and Pitt will also produce the project, which is said to focus on a couple’s relationship.

“I am very happy to continue my relationship with Donna and the entire Universal team as I finish “Unbroken” and begin work on “By The Sea,” Jolie said. “They have created a very special place for storytellers, and I look forward to the continued passion and support they have provided to me as a filmmaker.”

Jolie is currently in post-production on “Unbroken,” an epic drama directed and produced by Jolie based on the true story of Olympian and war hero Louis Zamperini and adapted from author Laura Hillenbrand’s bestseller. Universal will release Unbroken on Christmas Day, 2014.

She is repped by UTA and Media Talent Group and Pitt is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment.”

A new still of Brad in Fury has been released! Click on the image below to go to the gallery page for a larger version.

From The Riviera Times: “Move over Côte de Provence rosés, Brad Pitt is planning to make a revolutionary Provence red at his Miravel vineyard in the Var … just give him seven years. The Hollywood actor recently revealed that winemaking has reshaped his very identity, and he now considers himself a Provencal farmer – capable of producing that elusive, fine local red just like the Tuscans.

Speaking to the US magazine Wine Spectator, Brad Pitt, who bought the Miraval Estate winery with fiancée Angelina Jolie in 2012, explained that he approached this venture with the same determination as a Hollywood flick.

“For better or worse, given my compulsive nature, if we are going to be in the wine business, let’s make the best wine we can,’ the 50-year-old said. “I asked the question, ‘Why can’t we make world-class wine in Provence?’ Let’s approach it like a film, and let’s make something we can be proud of and all people can enjoy.”

Of course, Provence rosés are already world-class. But with fifth-generation winemaker Marc Perrin on their team, the Pitt-Jolie dynamic duo were definitely off to a good start. Their first 6,000 bottles, officially known as Jolie-Pitt & Perrin Côte de Provence Rosé Miraval, sold out within five hours of being offered online in France last March – a response which no-doubt fuelled Pitt’s new-found passion.

“I’m a farmer now. I love learning about the land and which field is most suitable for which grape, the drama of September and October: Are we picking today?

“Where are the sugar levels? How is the acidity? Is it going to rain? It’s been a schooling for me. In the off months, I enjoy cleaning the forest and walking the land.”

The sprawling Château Miraval estate, featuring 35-bedrooms and an adjoining 1,200 acre vineyard, was purchased for $60 million. It is situated in a valley at an altitude of 350 metres, where the vines “enjoy warm sunny days and cool nights, natural clay and chalk soils, plenty of water and organic farming practices,” according to the estate.

Clearly, these are great conditions for rosé, but do they suit red wine? Pitt seems to think so. He plans to ignore the strict guidelines of the AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée) and go out on a limb…

“What really interests me now are the reds. … It’s generally believed that Provence is not capable of producing a fine red. … I, with Marc and Pierre [Perrin], would like to create a wine which utilises the best attributes of our terroir, and outside the restrictions of the AOC, like what the Italians have achieved with their super Tuscans. We envision a superb Provence red. Give us seven years.””

From Variety: “Oscar-nominated scribe Steven Knight has been tapped to write Paramount and Skydance’s sequel to “World War Z,” sources confirm.

J.A. Bayona (“The Impossible”) will direct the zombie sequel, with Brad Pitt returning in the starring role.

Plot details are unknown, but the film is expected to continue the story of Max Brooks’ popular novel.

Pitt will produce the apocalyptic tentpole alongside Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner for Plan B.

The hiring of Knight comes weeks after it was announced that Pitt was in early talks to star in an untitled World War II romantic thriller, also written by Knight. That project does not have a distributor.

“World War Z,” directed by Marc Forster, earned more than $540 million worldwide in 2013 and is the highest-grossing film of Pitt’s career.

Knight most recently helmed Tom Hardy in “Locke” and was nominated for an Oscar in 2004 for “Dirty Pretty Things.”

He is repped by CAA and United Agents.”

From People: “When Brad Pitt joined fiancée Angelina Jolie last Wednesday for the premiere of Maleficent, he thought it would be a celebratory night for the family.

But prior to walking the carpet with Jolie and five of their six kids – Maddox, 12, Pax, 10, Zahara, 9, Shiloh, 8, and Knox, 5½ – Pitt clashed with notorious Ukranian ex-journalist Vitalii Sediuk, who jumped a police barrier to get to the actor. Sediuk was promptly arrested, and Pitt continued to sign autographs for eager fans.

In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, Pitt is now giving his take on the run-in.

“I was at the end of the line signing autographs, when out the corner of my eye I saw someone stage-diving over the barrier at me. I took a step back; this guy had latched onto my lapels. I looked down and the nutter was trying to bury his face in my crotch, so I cracked him twice in the back of the head – not too hard – but enough to get his attention, because he did let go. I think he was then just grabbing for a hand hold because the guys were on him, and he reached up and caught my glasses.”

“I don’t mind an exhibitionist,” Pitt continues, “but if this guy keeps it up he’s going to spoil it for the fans who have waited up all night for an autograph or a selfie, because it will make people more wary to approach a crowd. And he should know, if he tries to look up a woman’s dress again, he’s going to get stomped.””

From The Hollywood Reporter: “Lupita Nyong’o is set to reteam with Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company on the drama Americanah.

Plan B, which produced 12 Years a Slave, has acquired big-screen rights to the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie-penned novel and will produce alongside D2 Prods. and Potboiler Prods. (The Last King of Scotland, Generation Kill). Nyong’o will produce and star.

Americanah is the epic love story of young Nigerians, a romance that spans continents, visas, phone cards and breakups, while exploring the cruelties and the humor of both the modern immigrant experience and the difficulty of finding your way home. The novel was the winner of the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction and was selected as one of the 10 best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, the BBC and Newsday.

Adichie is the MacArthur Fellowship-winning author of the novels Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, the film adaptation of which recently premiered in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

“It is such an honor to have the opportunity to bring Ms. Adichie’s brilliant book to the screen,” Nyong’o said. “Page after page, I was struck by Ifemelu and Obinze’s stories, whose experiences as African immigrants are so specific and also so imminently relatable. It is a thrilling challenge to tell a truly international story so full of love, humor and heart.”

Nyong’o made her feature debut in Steve McQueen’s Academy Award winner 12 Years a Slave. For her portrayal as Patsey, she received the best supporting actress Oscar. This summer, she begins production on the J.J. Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode VII. Next, she will lend her voice to Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book.

Nyong’o also is a filmmaker, having served as the creator, director, editor and producer of the documentary In My Genes, about the treatment of Kenya’s albino population.

She is repped by CAA, D2 Management and Del Shaw.”

Public Appearances > 2014 > Maleficent Los Angeles Premiere – 28th May 2014

From People: “Brad Pitt sure knows how to throw a party – for a good cause.

The 12 Years a Slave producer, fiancée Angelina Jolie and several of their friends – like A-listers Sandra Bullock and Sofia Vergara – were in New Orleans Saturday night for the second annual Make It Right gala.

Chris Rock hosted the star-studded soiree, while Bruno Mars and Kings of Leon were the musical guests. Comedian Jim Gaffigan cracked up the audience, at one point “describing his remarkable resemblance to Brad Pitt,” a guest tells PEOPLE.

When it came time for fundraising, the nonprofit’s founder and event chairman Pitt, along with pal Bullock, took to the stage to run the live auction.

“The highlight of the night was Brad and Sandy Bullock encouraging the crowd to buy a Make It Right home, alternatively funny and moving,” the guest says.

“The two of them were great together,” says the guest, noting how they encouraged guests to purchase homes outright to give to residents in need.

“Sandra was hilarious. They were bantering back and forth. It was like they were on The Price Is Right, taking bids.”

Every guest who pledged $10,000 was eligible to win a BMW i3, and “Brad and Sandra pulled the winner’s name out of a hat at the end of the night,” the guest says.

By the gala’s end, the pair raised more than $4 million – with many of the event’s celebrity guests buying homes for those in need.

Pitt founded the organization, which builds sustainable homes and buildings for communities in need, in 2007, following the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. Besides New Orleans, Make It Right also has projects in Montana; Newark, New Jersey; and Kansas City, Missouri.

“You can’t believe the change in the Lower Ninth Ward,” says a guest who toured the Katrina-ravaged neighborhood in New Orleans. “There are 100 of these bright homes, families are back, kids are out playing. It’s so great.”

To donate, visit makeitright.org.”

View photos online here at People.

From US Magazine: “Don’t expect a sequel to Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s first movie together was life-changing—in more ways than one—but their next joint project will be very different. In an interview with Extra on Tuesday, May 20, the Maleficent actress revealed that their much buzzed-about onscreen reunion would take place in a smaller, more “experimental” film.

“It’s not a big movie, it’s not an action movie,” the Oscar winner, 38, told Jerry Penacoli of the project, which she wrote. “It’s the kind of movie we love, but aren’t often cast in. It’s a very experimental, independent-type film where we get to be actors together and be really raw, open, try things.”

Of her fiance, with whom she has six children, she added: “He’s my family. He’s not just a lover and partner, which is wonderful, but he’s my family now…We have history, we work hard to make it great, we don’t kind of relax about it and take each other for granted.”

Which is not to say their relationship is perfect. “Like everybody, we have our challenges,” she continued of Pitt, 50, “but we’re fighting to make it great.”

The Unbroken director also spoke about what it was like to work with her kids on Maleficent. (Daughter Vivienne, 5, plays a young Princess Aurora in the movie, and Pax, 10, and Zahara, 9, have cameos.) “It was fun to share, but it was also that I’m better when they’re there,” she said. “My performance was a little more enhanced, because if I think about making them laugh, then I get a little crazier.””

Public Appearances > 2014 > The Normal Heart New York Screening – 12th May 2014