Pitt As Pontius Pilate?

Brad Pitt is said to be circling the title title role in the Pontius Pilate biopic in development says Deadline.

"Woman On Top" scribe Vera Blasi wrote the spec script which follows Pontius Pilate and his transformation from the sensitive son of a Roman Knight into a ferocious soldier on the political fast track under Emperor Tiberius' rule. Promised a military governorship in Egypt, Pilate is instead assigned to become Judea's prefect at a time when the Roman-occupied Jerusalem was a cauldron of religious tensions. He fell into historical infamy when he had to decide the fate of a 33-year old rabbi by the name of Jesus Christ.

The site reports Pitt is "not committed" yet but could be "very quickly".

The film portrays Pilate as a capable but arrogant soldier who gets in way over his head and ends up making catastrophic decisions. It also reportedly focuses on the history, politics and character motivations rather than the greater theological implications.

Other figures glimpsed in the story include Tiberius, Caligula, John the Baptist, Salome, Caiaphas and Mary Magdalene.

Mark Johnson ("The Notebook") will produce the pic.