Just like
The Sun's previous (false) story that Angelina would star in a Danny Boyle film right after WWZ , this has all the markings of another fantasy tale -- and not just because The Sun sits at the bottom of the tabloid credibility totem pole. Fantasy real estate purchases seem to be a tabloid favorite often aided by enterprising real estate agents eager to gain some easy publicity for their properties. Similar real estate stories have emerged from other cities they've visited or filmed in:
a $25M condo in Manhattan after
Salt, a $40M
Italian estate after
The Tourist,
beach front property in Croatia after she promoted
Blood & Honey, an apartment in
Berlin, and then there was the memorable
Christmas gift of a California waterfall to recreate Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water early this year. We can certainly give the tabloids credit for thinking of imaginative ways to entertain their readers with escapist fantasies.
There are other reasons to doubt this latest real estate story First, because a more credible source identified a
different, much more modern property as the one they rented last year. While they were staying in Long Island during the filming of
Salt there were similar erroneous reports that they rented a large but musty
Tudor-style estate when they actually rented
Rupert Murdoch's more modest Centre Island home.
Second because old world style has never been their "style" -- witness the
renovations in Miraval to give it a more "contemporary feel" and the modern design of the
Malibu house they sold. 3rd because Disney will be shouldering most of the family's housing expenses while
Maleficent is filming so it wouldn't make sense for them to shell out for property they could already use for free.
Fourth because the two other films that are supposed to keep them in London are
The Counselor which is actually set in the Southwest border with Mexico and the mysterious Danny Boyle project no one else has heard of (unless he has a surprise part for her in the Olympics).
And 5th, because they've already said they had enough properties to look after. From an investment management point of view, they hardly need more real estate assets that are non-revenue generating and expensive to maintain in their portfolio. Assuming Forbes' $270M estimate of their net worth is accurate, they would not park more than a third of that in real estate considering they are not in the property business.
Angelina hasn't starred in a film since 2010 and
Blood & Honey likely ended up costing her. Most of her income last year probably came from her share of gross and ancillaries from
The Tourist and
Salt. Brad meanwhile has been focusing more on less commercial fare. His last big hit was
Inglourious Basterds in 2009. His last two films were major Awards players but made very little money. (Something Graham King can emphasize with.)
Moneyball made $110M worldwide on a budget of $50M while
Tree of Life made $54M on $32M. When you add P&A expenses and deduct the theaters' roughly 50% share, they're left dependent on ancillaries to generate most of their profits. So Brad probably didn't get much if anything on the back-end on top of his fee which was already discounted. He also likely took a cut for his work last year on the small-budget
Killing Them Softly. His main source of income for the year was probably
World War Z which he and his Plan B helped produce with the hope of turning it into a franchise. In short, they are not swimming in the kind of cash that would allow them to throw money around the way the tabloids imagine them doing. That sort of spending can only be done by billionaires living in an even more rarefied world. Even if Angelina already received the bulk of her fee for
Maleficent, it's unlikely that she would spend almost all of it on a house they will only use for a few months.
Perhaps there is a variation of Newton's law of motion that can account for why people are so obsessed with whether they'll have more of what they already have a lot of -- be it houses or children.
Below pictures of the house they supposedly actually rented which seems much more their style than the rustic house in
The Sun:
(UPDATE: With sources close to them and the property's owner now denying the Sun's story, both it and the Daily Mail took down their reports. But such is the demand for stories related to them that every tidbit is guaranteed a ton of hits and even People surprisingly succumbed to the temptation to piggyback along. )
Beverly Hills, New Orleans, France—where
don't Angelina Jolie and
Brad Pitt live?! It certainly wouldn't be much of a stretch to have their family of eight setting up a home base in England, too, right?
Sure enough,
The Sun is reporting that the betrothed actors
have plunked down $16 million for Whornes Place, an estate in the West
London town of Richmond.
The price is easily in Jolie and Pitt's wheelhouse, they spend tons
of time across the pond and London is just downright swingin'. Then
again, they've already got a place in the relatively nearby south of
France.
Alert the royal family, ladies and gents, because this story is...
So
false! (Looks like
Prince William and
Kate Middleton will have to be content with just
Javier Bardem and
Penélope Cruz living nearby for now.)
"They have not bought that property," a source confirms to E! News. Jolie, Pitt and the pitter-patter of 12 feet
are
familiar with Whornes Place, however—it is where the family stayed
between May and September of last year for a reported $50,000 a month
while Pitt wrapped
World War Z.
But, though they're setting up shop in London for awhile, they've chosen to rest their heads elsewhere.
"They are staying in a gated community in Oxfordshire," the
source says. "They are going to be in London for quite a long time and
the plan so far is that they are going to move around between different
rental properties so they can enjoy some privacy. Right now they are not
planning on buying anything in London.
"Bear in mind," the insider added, "Angelina has bought and sold here
before. She used to own a home in Buckinghamshire but sold it because
she doesn't spend enough time in the U.K. to justify a purchase.
Angelina and Brad only come to England for work, not for vacations."
And, unlike how it was with the French chateau they at first leased and then
bought last year, the owner of Whornes Place—"a very successful businessman," our source says—isn't interested in selling right now.
By
Daily Mail Reporter
UPDATED:
04:21 EST, 3 May 2012
Brad Pitt
and Angelina Jolie have bought a £10million mansion in London, according to reports.
The
Hollywood pair decided to buy the property - named Whornes Place - while
renting it for £30,000 a month last summer.
Brad was
filming zombie thriller World War Z when they were staying in the capital
city's borough with their six children.
Luxurious: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's new £10million house features antique decor and chic furnishings
The
property in exclusive Richmond has an indoor pool and 15th century wooden
beams, according to The Sun.
A source
said: 'Brad and Angelina hold an affection for the UK so this investment
makes sense.'
Stunning: The fully-equipped kitchen has a rustic feel with wooden beams and dark furniture
Splashing around: The property also features a large indoor swimming pool - perfect for the couple's six children
By Stephen M. Silverman
Thursday May 03, 2012 12:40 PM EDT
Whomes Place in Richmond, Surrey, with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (inset)
WENN; Inset: Steve Granitz/WireImage
With
Angelina Jolie shooting
Disney's Maleficent in the U.K., she and
Brad Pitt have bought a $16 million mansion in Richmond, West London, according to the
Sun tabloid.
The
engaged couple previously rented the residence, called Whornes Place, last year, while Pitt was
filming the zombie movie World War Z. The monthly rent was reportedly close to $50,000.
As for amenities, the house is not lacking for much, says the paper. There's an indoor swimming pool – perfect when you have
six kids – and decorative touches are said to include 15th century wooden beams.
A source told the
Sun: "They like the culture and are
happy for their children to receive schooling here. They think Richmond
is a beautiful part of the world."
Reps for the couple could not be reached.
By Lisa Potter on Thursday 3 May 2012
REX
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have purchased a lavish £10million mansion in Richmond, London, according to reports.
The Hollywood super couple
fell in love with the property while renting it for
£30,000 a month last summer when
Brad Pitt was in the UK filming his zombie thriller,
World War Z.
PICS: THE JOLIE-PITT FAMILY ALBUM
The
pair think that Whornes Place, which has an indoor pool and 15th
century wooden beams, would be the perfect place for their six children
to be based over the next two years while
Angelina Jolie is in the
UK filming three movies back-to-back.
'They
loved it when they were in the UK last year,' a source tells The Sun newspaper.
'They
like the culture and are happy for their children to receive schooling here. They think
Richmond is a beautiful part of the world.'
Adding, 'Angelina starts work on her next film,
Maleficent,
in about three weeks so Brad will look after their brood over summer as
he won’t start work on the Ridley Scott film until September.'
The
recently engaged couple are expected to tie the knot on August 11th at
their £25million French château in the village of Correns.
