The Tiger was pitched to us two years ago as the chance for Brad Pitt and Darren Aronofsky to reunite after they failed to get their version of The Fountain off the ground.  Pitt and Aronofsky are indeed producing—along with Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Mark Heyman, and Ari Handel—but that may be the limit of their involvement.  Deadline reports Michael R. Roskam (Bullhead) will direct The Tiger, an adaptation of the book by John Vaillant.  The script by Guillermo Arriaga (Babel) “takes place on the Siberian plain, where humans encroach on a tiger’s habitat with tragic results.”  The lead role is an animal activist who must figure out how to stop the tiger that is slaughtering the villagers.  Pitt initially eyed that role, but the new report only mentions him as a producer.

The Tiger will be the English-language debut for the Belgian director, who is riding a wave of buzz ever since his first feature, Bullhead, earned a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination last year.  Roskam reportedly turned down many offers before saying yes to Focus Features for The Tiger.  Hit the jump for the book synopsis.

This summer it was announced that Brad Pitt and director Darren Aronofsky will team for an adaptation of The Tiger, the non-fiction book by John Vaillant which tracks the struggle to trap a man-eating tiger on the loose.  Guillermo Arriaga (Babel) is the man tasked with adapting the story into a thriller, and indicated in a recent interview that Angelina Jolie has boarded the project, which is set to begin filming next year.  More after the jump:

Brad Pitt and director Darren Aronofsky will try again to make a film together with the adventure thriller The Tiger.  The project is based on an upcoming nonfiction book by John Vaillant, and according to Variety, “takes place on the Siberian plain, where human development is encroaching on the tigers’ habitat — and one tiger turns on the intruders. With townspeople being tracked and hunted with an almost supernatural power, a conservationist game warden must face down the tiger. It is a fight that only one of them can win.”  So it’s Tiger vs. People.  I would have been excited for this project without the inclusion of Pitt and Aronosfky but they send it over the top.  Unfortunately, the script is being handled by Babel writer Guillermo Arriaga whose only film I enjoyed (and granted I really loved it), was The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

Hit the jump for a brief history of Pitt and Arnofosky’s previous attempts at making a film together as well as what Arriaga had to say about writing the script.