Netflix Just Scored Its Biggest Star Yet

Netflix is teaming up with yet another big name: Brad Pitt. The streaming service will produce Pitt's War Machine, which will "be exclusively available to members ... and in select theaters next year," according to a press release. The film, starring Pitt and co-produced with Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, is based on The Operators, a book about Afghanistan by Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stone reporter who played a role in Gen. Stanley McChrystal's resignation before Hastings' death in 2013.

The plot centers around "a four-star, 'rock star' general whose lethal reputation and impeccable track record vaults him to command the American war in Afghanistan," the press release says, and Time calls it a "satirical comedy." (Deadline notes that the book "captured McChrystal in his cocky glory.") Business Insider says this is Netflix's "biggest deal yet," worth a reported $30 million or so, according to Deadline. Its previous biggest acquisition: $17 million for Jadotville, which stars Jamie Dornan of Fifty Shades of Grey fame and will also be released next year. (Click for nine Netflix original series out this year or the best movies and shows being added this month.)