Brad Pitt to play Jesse James

Brad Pitt is strapping up to play legendary cowboy outlaw Jesse James in the first film financed by the production company he co-owns with estranged wife Jennifer Aniston.

Publicists for Pitt and Aniston have announced the former couple's plans to remain business partners in Plan B Entertainment, which has a number of projects in the pipeline.

And now comes news that Pitt will play cowboy James in a movie based on a novel called The Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford.

The book tells the story of the gunslinger's death at the hands of a young upstart.