Posted on 11/17/2017 10:01:48 AM PST by Captain Peter Blood
Nearly two decades after George Clooney left the seminal medical drama ER, the actor is making a return to the small screen — and the only catch is the one in the title.
Clooney will be directing and starring in a miniseries adaptation of Catch-22 from Paramount TV and Anonymous Content. There is no network currently attached to air the miniseries.
Clooney will be adapting Joseph Heller’s tragicomic 1961 World War II satirical novel Catch-22 into a six-episode miniseries and starring as Colonel Cathcart, the primary antagonist of the book, according to Variety.
Based off of Heller’s own experiences in World War II, the story follows the attempts of disillusioned bomber pilot Captain John Yossarian as he seeks to escape the madness and absurdity of war, only to be blocked at every turn by red tape and opportunistic superiors. And then there’s the infamous “catch-22”: a series of paradoxical Air Force regulations that make it essentially impossible for pilots to be declared mentally unfit to fly.
Clooney’s producing partner Grant Heslov will direct some of the series, and the episodes were co-written by Luke Davies and David Michôd, who will also executive produce. Richard Brown and Steve Golin will executive produce for Anonymous Content along with Clooney and Heslov under Smokehouse Pictures.
The last time Catch-22 was adapted was as a 1970 film by Mike Nichols, starring Alan Arkin as Yossarian and Martin Balsam as Colonel Cathcart.
George Clooney and a Catch 22 miniseries seem like a match made in farcical, black comedy heaven. The actor has often chosen roles that undercut his Hollywood leading man good looks in charm — to balance out the bevy of roles which highlight them — often in collaboration with the Coen Brothers. While his last directorial effort, the Coen-lite dark comedy Suburbicon, disappointed critically, that doesn’t mean he should avoid the genre altogether. Clooney has long proved himself a magnetic leading man, and a talented — if hit-or-miss — behind-the-scenes creator, and Catch-22 could provide him the perfect outlet for merging his whimsical tendencies with his eye for the dramatic.
The series is aiming for a 2018 production start. No network has picked up the project yet.
I predict yet another Clooney bomb.
Col. Cathcart was pretty much a prop. The series will turn on who they get to play Yossarian and Milo Minderbinder.
Another movie I will not see.
Clooney’s next stink bomb.
Read the book, saw the movie, don’t need a third bite, particularly from one whose proven creativity makes the dregs look like the cream.
No draft, but hardly no war.
My favorite book ever, also. I wangled it into being assigned to my freshman English class in one of the assignments. so I could share my passion.
I attended the red carpet opening of the movie in Atlanta. The movie was so true to the book, I was able to mouth much of the dialogue as it was being delivered on screen. It was a fine adaptation.
As for this Clooney thing, that fact that the star of the series is Colonel Cathcart and not Yossarian, tells me they’ve blown it already.
He’s a 3rd rate actor.....and a jerk.
MASH 2.0.
It will bomb.
George Looney.
Now there's no war, and no draft.
Maybe George is betting the situation will change.
George seems to have an obsession with this anachronistic stuff. In 2000, he did a live televised broadcast play which was a remake of Fail Safe, which left everyone scratching their heads due to the (apparent) distance from the Cold War. In the early '60s, the book and movie worked, but thirty-six years later - not so much.
Is there still a squadron’s worth of flyable B-25s around. CGI just won’t cut it.
I REALLY hate these people.
Will Clooney play the part of Klinger?
OOOps! That’s MASH!!
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