Ridley Scott halts production of ‘The Counselor’

According to The Wrap, Scott Free Productions, the company co-founded by brothers Tony and Ridley Scott, will shut down production of The Counselor this week after Tony Scott’s apparent suicide on Sunday. Ridley Scott is directing the project from a script by novelist Cormac McCarthy. The film, which stars Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender, examines a lawyer (Fassbender) who decides to dabble in the drug trade along the Mexican border. Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz all have parts as well.

The Counselor is currently filming in London, but Ridley Scott has reportedly flown from London to Los Angeles after his brother’s death. Though born and raised in England, Tony lived in Beverly Hills. Tony Scott’s body was recovered late Sunday after police received a 911 call that someone had jumped into the Los Angeles Harbor from the Vincent Thomas Bridge near San Pedro.

In addition to directing, the Scott brothers produced dozens of projects under the Scott Free banner. Tony Scott had a number of projects at various stages of development, but it remains to be seen what will happen with most of them. Fox will distribute The Counselor, as it has so many of the Scott brothers’ projects.