Brad Pitt Circling Lead Role in Angelina Jolie's Richard Leakey Biopic AFRICA

According to The Wrap, Brad Pitt is in negotiations to star in wife Angelina Jolie's upcoming film AFRICA, a biopic centering on politician and paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey.

A native Kenyan, Leakey campaigned against elephant poachers in the 1980s and 1990s when he was the head of Kenya's Wildlife Conservation and Management Department.

Eric Roth (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, House of Cards) wrote the script. Cinematographer Roger Deakins (Jolie's Unbroken) is also part of the project. Skydance Productions will produce.

"I've felt a deep connection to Africa and its culture for much of my life, and was taken with Eric's beautiful script about a man drawn into the violent conflict with elephant poachers who emerged with a deeper understanding of man's footprint and a profound sense of responsibility for the world around him," Jolie said in a statement last fall.

Pitt will next be seen in By the Sea. He recently appeared on the big screen in Fury, The Counselor, 12 Years a Slave and World War Z.

Jolie recently helmed UNBROKEN, and is filming By the Sea, also with Pitt, set for a release this year. She has also helmed In the Land of Blood and Honey and the documentary A Place in Time. Jolie recently appeared on the big screen in Maleficent.

Photo Credit: Jim Smeal / BEImages