According to The BBC, writer Paul Abbott ("Cracker") has just announced that Brad Pitt is definitely set to play journalist Cal McCaffrey in the American feature film version of the BBC's highly acclaimed and award-winning 2003 mini-series "State of Play".

The story follows a newspaper's investigation into the death of a political researcher who is revealed to be the mistress of an upcoming energy minister. The trail leads to the uncovering of collusion between the British Government and segments of the oil industry.

In the original McCaffrey ("Life on Mars" star John Simm) is a reporter and the ex-campaign manager of the accused minister (Basic Instinct 2's David Morrissey) who, whilst investigating him, becomes involved with the man's estranged wife ("Rome" star Polly Walker).

James McAvoy ("The Last King of Scotland"), Kelly Macdonald ("The Girl in the Cafe"), Marc Warren (TV's "Hustle") and Philip Glennister (TV's "Life on Mars") also starred, as did Bill Nighy ("Love Actually", "Underworld", "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest") who won the BAFTA for his work as the newspaper's acerbic editor-in-chief Cameron Foster.