Grace in war satire
In looking at the path of TORONTO his fellow That ’70s Show alumni, it seemed a natural fit for Topher Grace to wind up on Netflix.
Grace stars opposite Brad Pitt in the streaming service’s new original military satire War Machine. Netflix paid a reported US$60 million to acquire the rights to the film, making it one of its most ambitious projects yet.
He follows in the footsteps of several That ’70s Show castmates who’ve also starred in Netflix original projects — from Laura Prepon on Orange Is the New Black, to Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama on The Ranch.
Asked if he’d be into a That ’70s Show reboot or reunion, Grace said: “I would do anything to be able to hang out with those guys again.”
In War Machine, Pitt stars as a bold, overconfident general who goes into Afghanistan to lead U.S. and coalition forces through a war that seemingly can’t be won. Grace plays a cocky civilian public relations consultant trying to put a positive spin on the war.
Australian filmmaker David Michod (Animal Kingdom) wrote and directed the darkly absurdist comedy, which is inspired by the book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan by the late journalist Michael Hastings.
The book details the shortlived leadership of Gen. Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.