MFF Dumb Data: Brad Pitt’s Movies Make More Money, Score Higher With Critics, the More He Eats

.

QUICK NOTE: I’m not implying correlation equals causation. I’m just presenting random data in hopes of making a few people chuckle. Hopefully all this data won’t be too much to digest.

For years, the narrative around Brad Pitt is that he is always eating in his movies. It’s gotten to the point where you legitimately envision him constantly snacking on a turkey leg in each of his films. For instance:

1. Troy – Fighting Eric Bana while holding a turkey leg
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eating a turkey leg while hanging with Cate Blanchett
3. Cool World – Eating an animated turkey leg while chasing toons around
4. True Romance – Sitting on couch while eating a turkey leg
5. Legends of the Fall – Looking sad on a boat AND sadly eating a turkey leg

The eating discussion is so prevalent, I decided to do a rewatch of his movies to put together a master list of all the food, and see if any cool statistics popped out. I started by researching the lists and videos claiming to showcase ALL the food Pitt has consumed through the years. The helpful lists (another list) and videos (more videos here and here) are thorough and I applaud the work put into them, however, I quickly learned items were missing from the lists, or added items weren’t featured in the movies. So, I started a months long process of scouring through his movies (thank you Vudu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Crackle, Tubi, Hoopla, IMDb Freedive and my local library) to find some fun (unimportant data) I can share with you

Here are some quick thoughts before I get into the eating:

1. He is really good in 12 Monkeys.
2. He has eaten 4,986 estimated calories onscreen.
3. Moneyball is better than I remembered…and I remembered it being very good.
4. A River Runs Through It deserved the Best Cinematography Oscar.
5. He doesn’t eat too much.
6. His best eating moments are in Ocean’s 11, Fury and Mr. and Mrs. Smith
7. His peanut butter eating moment in Meet Joe Black showcased some brave acting.
8. He was badass in Snatch.
9. Burn After Reading is really funny.
10. He has consumed the majority of his calories in the 2000s.

The pie chart is fitting….

.

Here are the eating rules

1. I only counted his onscreen eating. Basically, we had to see him eating. I didn’t include the implied eating from movies like Seven (post dinner scene with Paltrow and Freeman) or Johnny Suede (jelly doughnut scene)
2. I didn’t count beer, water, coffee or soda (sorry World War Z Pepsi scene).
3. I included his Jamba Juice smoothie and gum chewing in Burn After Reading because technically that’s lunch. Also, I included the blood from Interview With the Vampire because he is eating.
4. To figure out the calories, I found the serving size calorie amount of each food eaten onscreen and guessed accordingly. Or, I just typed in “tablespoon of peanut butter calories” or “cheeseburger calories” and worked with that. I am 98.87% confident with my calorie counts.

What did I find out? Brad Pitt movies featuring him consuming more than 200 onscreen calories have higher box office and critical averages than his movie featuring zero eating or very little munching. I guess critics and audiences like watching him eat (no way to prove this).

Brad Pitt movies featuring no eating

• Tomatometer Average – 64.%
• IMDb User Score – 6.9
• Domestic Box Office Average – $64 million
• Movies with zero calories eaten

The $68 million worldwide box office average can be attributed to World War Z being the only blockbuster type movie in the category. However, it is the most award nominated category with Pitt receiving Academy Award nominations for 12 Monkeys (Best Supporting Actor) and The Big Short (Producer), and winning an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave (Producer).

If you get a chance watch Snatch, Killing Them Softly, True Romance and World War Z. Pitt is very good in them

Brad Pitt movies featuring him eating 1-200 calories

• Tomatometer Average – 62%
• IMDb User Score – 6.8
• Domestic Box Office Average – $110 million
• List of movies by calorie intake

One of my favorite Brad Pitt eating moments takes place in Fury during a very uncomfortable lunch scene. I think it might feature the greatest eating of a single egg in cinema history. Aside from the egg eating in Fury, the eating moments in these movies are mundane and mostly feature Pitt eating a few bites here and there. My favorite moment of Pitt’s “non-eating” takes place in Seven, when he looks at a piece of pizza with absolute disgust and throws it back on a plate without eating it. While watching these movies again, it’s clear that Brad Pitt taught The Big Bang Theory actors how to fake eat and act, because he does A LOT of it.

If you haven’t watched The Assassination of Jessie James By the Coward Robert Ford you need to do it now. The cinematography by Roger Deakins is mind-blowing and I guarantee Pitt has never looked better while eating. I also love The Tree of Life, and I appreciate the way cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki shoots Pitt eating as well.

Such an uncomfortable lunch.

Brad Pitt movies featuring him eating 200+ calories

• Tomatometer Average – 67%
• IMDb User Score – 7.0
• Domestic Box Office Average – $143 million
• Brad Pitt movies featuring him eating 200+ calories

I have a feeling that Ocean’s Eleven, Moneyball and Meet Joe Black are the primary reasons why people think Brad Pitt is always eating onscreen. The eating in Ocean’s 11 is truly excessive and I kinda love it. Pitt’s commitment to shoveling food in his face is a lot of fun and I like how it continues on through the successful trilogy. Also, Moneyball gave us the visual of Pitt shoveling an entire Twinkie into his mouth, while Meet Joe Black features the strangest peanut butter eating ever.

I do like how Pitt’s eating and acting are never the same. Here are some examples:

• Ocean’s trilogy – Cool eating
• Moneyball – Stress eating
• Meet Joe Black – Curious eating
• Interview With the Vampire – Very hungry eating
• Kalifornia – Gross eating
• Seven Years in Tibet – I’ll eat anything eating

There you have it! Brad Pitt’s movies do better with critics and audiences when he eats more. The world can rest easy now.

If you like this weird data make sure to check out my other stuff.

1. Jet Ski Action Scenes Are the Worst
2. Analyzing the Unsuccessful Trap in Predators
3. How Far Did the Shark Travel in Jaws: The Revenge?
4. How Many Calories Did Shaggy and Scooby Ingest When They Are The Cotton Candy Glob?
5. The Dolph Lundgren Front Kick Spectacular
6. How Far Did the Creature From It Follows Travel?
7. How Many Bullets Missed John Matrix in Commando?
8. How Long Did it Take Batman to Setup the Bat Fire on the Bridge in The Dark Knight Rises?
9. Kevin Bacon’s College Degrees
10. How Fast Does the Great White Swim in Shark Night?
11. Zara the Assistant and Jurassic World Had a Bad Day
12. A Look at Elektra’s sandbag trainer in Daredevil
13. How Far Did Nic Cage Run While Dressed as a Bear In The Wicker Man Remake?
14. Breaking Down The Mariner vs. Sea Beast Battle in Waterworld
15. How Long Did it Take The Joker to Setup the Weapon Circle in Suicide Squad?
16. Michael Myers Hates Blinkers
17. How Much Blood Dropped During the Blood Rave in Blade?
18. Jason Voorhees Can’t Teleport?
19. Michael Myers Loves Laundry
20. How Far Did the Merman Travel in The Cabin in the Woods?
21. How Far Did Matthew McConaughey Jump in Reign of Fire?
22. How Fast can Leatherface Run?
23. Deep Blue Sea and Stellan Skarsgard
24. How Far Did Michael Myers Drive in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
25. How Did the Geologist Get Lost in Prometheus?
26. People Love a Bearded Kurt Russell
27. A Closer Look at Movies That Feature the Words Great, Good, Best, Perfect and Fantastic
28. An In-Depth Look At Movies That Feature Pencils Used as Weapons
29. Cinematic Foghat Data
30. Explosions and Movie Posters
31. The Fast & Furious & Corona
32. Nicolas Sparks Movie Posters Are Weird
33. How Do You Make the Perfect Kevin Smith Movie?
34. Predicting the RT score of Baywatch
35. The Cinematic Dumb Data Podcast
36. What is the best horror movie franchise?
37. How Fast Can the Fisherman Clean a Trunk in I Know What You Did Last Summer?
38. It’s Expensive to Feature Characters Being Eaten Alive and Surviving Without a Scratch
39. How Long Does it Take Your Favorite Horror Movie Characters to Travel From NYC to San Francisco?
40. What was the Guy’s Blood Pressure in Dawn of the Dead?
41. Why Were There So Many Lemons in National Treasure?
42. How Far Does The Rock Jump in the Skyscraper Poster?