Brad Pitt finally gets to shoot sci-fi ''Fountain''

Brad Pitt’s ”The Fountain” has been shut off and turned on many times over the past year, but it’s now definitely flowing, according to trade reports. The $70 million sci-fi epic, cowritten by Darren Aronofsky (”Pi,” ”Requiem for a Dream”), was first shelved last year because of costar Cate Blanchett’s pregnancy, then because of Warner Bros. qualms over the ballooning budget, not to mention director Aronofsky’s inexperience with a project of this scope (”Requiem” cost just $4.5 million.) But with the studio having greenlit Wolfgang Petersen’s ”Batman vs. Superman,” Warner Bros. has put Aronofsky’s ”Batman: Year One” on the back burner and given ”Fountain” the go-ahead.

The plot, which the studio has tried to keep secret, spans a millennium, starting during the time of the conquistadors 500 years ago and jumping ahead to 500 years from now. Costarring with Pitt will be Blanchett and Ellen Burstyn, who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her ”Requiem” role. Shooting will begin in Australia, in Sydney and Queensland, in late October, according to published reports.

Pitt, who has a cameo as himself in next month’s ”Full Frontal,” has spent the past few months growing a bushy beard for the role, a look he calls ”the Bin Laden.” At Tuesday’s ”Full Frontal” premiere party in Los Angeles, Pitt told the New York Daily News that he and wife Jennifer Aniston will both go to Australia for the shoot, which could last as long as six months. ”We’re gonna be there a while, but we’re not moving there,” he said. ”I love my L.A.” Besides, she might have a little work of her own to do back in the States on ”Friends,” the show for which she and her guest-star hubby were nominated for his-and-hers Emmys last week.