Brad Pitt tipped for Red Dead film

One the biggest video games success stories of the year could be getting the Hollywood treatment with none other than A-list actor Brad Pitt in the leading role.

Rockstar’s Wild West sequel stormed the global video games charts in May, shooting straight to No.1 in the UK and netting a cool 10m in the process. It was confirmed in June that the game had sold in excess of 5m units worldwide.

Its success came despite some pre-release scepticism from US analyst Michael Pachter, who stated that he was not sure that a game set in the late 19th century has tremendous mass appeal”.

However, a big-screen outing would undoubtedly do wonders for the brand.

This is an exciting project with a great character [John Marston] at the centre of it,” an anonymous source told ShowbizSpy. The idea is to make this in the style of an epic Western movie but with a few modern touches. Brad is perfect for the role and he is being given first refusal.”

It’s not the first time the game has received the movie treatment. In June cable channel FIVE USA aired a 30-minute mini-movie made from in-game assets.