Brad Pitt has been tapped to star in a movie based on the controversial book The Billionaire’s Vinegar based on the true story centred around a bottle of 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux, purportedly owned by Thomas Jefferson.
The movie, which is slated to hit theatres this year, is produced by Will Smith who bought the rights to the book written by Benjamin Wallace.
Based on a true story, the book traces the journey of the fabled Jefferson Bordeaux that sold for US$156,000 (RM477,360) at an auction and was later called out as a fake. The bottle continues to be at the centre of a legal case.
According to thedrinksbusinessk.com, billionaire William Koch asked a US appeals court this month to revive the lawsuit against auction house Christie’s for assisting in the sale of fake bottles that were said to belong to Thomas Jefferson.
The story, meanwhile, follows the journey of this mythical bottle from Paris, Monticello, to Zurich and Munich, and is interspersed with grand intrigue, fraud and suspense in the exclusive world of the absurdly rich.
Pitt’s involvement in a movie about wine shouldn’t come as a surprise given his personal interest in winemaking. The home he shares with partner Angelina Jolie in the South of France, Chateau Miraval, also comes with a winery that produces white, red and rosé wines.
Not since the Oscar-winning 2004 movie Sideways, about Pinot Noir, has a movie based on wine generated cinematic buzz.
No release date for The Billionaire’s Vinegar has been announced.