By Peter Hall

Netflix has been betting huge on original content for a while now, but most of those investments have been in making TV shows. Granted, some of those shows do have movie ties, like Marvel’s Daredevil or the upcoming Wet Hot American Summer, but for the most part their commitment to original movie content has been rather small, with their first major deal being for new Adam Sandler comedies.

That’s changing, though, with Netflix having just made their biggest commitment yet to stealing some studio thunder. They’ve agreed to pay in excess of $30 million for the exclusive rights to War Machine, Brad Pitt’s next movie as a star and producer.

No, War Machine isn’t yet another solo Marvel movie, but it is a satirical comedy inspired by the book The Operators: The Wild And Terrifying Inside Story Of America’s War In Afghanistan. It’ll be written and directed by David Michod (Animal Kingdom, The Rover) and produced by Pitt’s own company, Plan B Entertainment, which is on a hot streak having recently made Selma, 12 Years a Slave, and World War Z.

Netflix has already made one big movie play this year by taking on the potentially great Beasts of No Nation starring Idris Elba and directed by Cary Fukunaga (True Detective), so matching that with War Machine gives the online streaming giant a pretty impressive arsenal. And considering the company keeps expanding all over the world (Italy, Portugal, and Spain were all just announced today), it may not be that long before Netflix graduates from expensive future Oscar nominees to expensive future blockbusters.

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Source:: http://www.movies.com/movie-news/netflix-war-machine/18615?wssac=164&wssaffid=news