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Making movies can be hard, unpredictable work, so it makes sense that, prior to beginning principal photography, many directors try to assemble a team of familiar faces and proven talents. John Ford frequently collaborated with producer Merian C. Cooper; screenwriters like Nunnally Johnson, Dudley Nichols, and Frank S. Nugent; and a whole stock company of actors that included Victor McLaglen, Jack Pennick, Harry Carey Jr., and, of course, John Wayne. On a smaller scale, you've got Joe Dante, who cast character actor Dick Miller in almost all of his movies, and Ron Howard, who's been finding small parts for his brother Clint Howard since making his feature directing debut with 1977's "Grand Theft Auto."

This cohesion gives film productions a sense of built-in camaraderie and purpose; it also conveys an air of confidence in that everyone working on the movie trusts this group of craftspeople knows how to deliver a high-quality picture.

Of all the stars in Hollywood, Matt Damon has been one of the most consistent performers and A-listers currently working in the industry. The movie business has not only transformed but evolved since his Oscar-grabbing debut in 1997. Damon’s presence has contributed to that evolution in ways more than one.

Suburbicon [Credit: Paramount Pictures]

With films that challenge genres and defy boundaries, Matt Damon has adopted many skins and harbored countless identities in his roles ranging from innocent victims to Machiavellian villains. The actor has never backed out of a challenging part, pioneering Hollywood in all its glory through its ups and downs.

Matt Damon’s $25M bomb has a Presidential cameo Julianne Moore as Margaret and Matt Damon in Suburbicon [Credit: Paramount Pictures]

For Matt Damon, American society has already faltered when it comes to the nation’s socio-political condition. His disdain for the current administration is not only tangible but vocally resounding,...

George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck will open on Broadway in April.

The play, which Clooney wrote with Grant Heslov, will begin previews at the Winter Garden Theatre March 12, 2025, with an opening night set for April 3. Clooney will also make his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck in the role of journalist Edward R. Murrow.

The stage play is based on the 2005 film written by Clooney and Heslov and follows Murrow’s clash with U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy as Murrow pushes to continue reporting on McCarthy’s anti-communist efforts. David Cromer, who won a Tony Award for his direction of The Band’s Visit, will direct the production.

Clooney directed the film and also played Fred W. Friendly, co-producer of Murrow’s television program, while David Strathairn played Murrow. The movie was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture.

Heslov and Clooney have also worked...

In 1997, when Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Gus Van Sant's "Good Will Hunting," it immediately propelled the pair onto the ineffable Hollywood A-list. Both of them had been acting for several years and had participated in a few notable studio pictures, but it was "Good Will Hunting" that pushed the two handsome young blokes onto the top of the heap. Their film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and it won Oscars for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (for Robin Williams). Ever since, both Affleck and Damon have remained above-the-title power players, appearing in a long list of both big-budget hits and ambitious indies.

Although, that's not to say that they both haven't had their share of stinkers. Affleck has starred in several notorious films in his career, including widely loathed films like "Gigli" and "Phantoms." Although Affleck was the bomb in "Phantoms,...

George Clooney is one of the most noted actors in Hollywood. Beginning his career on TV with the show ER, Clooney soon became one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, after starring in films like From Dusk Till Dawn, the Oceans trilogy, Michael Clayton, and Syriana, the latter of which won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Apart from his acting gigs, Clooney has also been a producer and has multiple other business ventures. He has been an activist and his wife Amal Clooney is a human rights lawyer. He has also directed films. Here is everything you need to know about Clooney’s net worth in 2024.

What Is George Clooney’s Net Worth In 2024? George Clooney in Batman & Robin | Credits: Warner Bros.

George Clooney has been in the industry for over four decades, with the actor having his first breakthrough with the medical TV show ER.

Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton stunned the Venice Film Festival on Monday night with the premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,” which received a 17-minute standing ovation, the longest of the 2024 edition so far.

After the film ended, the Spanish auteur kissed the cheeks of both Swinton and Moore and lifted up their arms like champion boxers. He then descended the stairs with his new muses, prolonging the ovation by shaking hands with fans in the theater. Swinton, in a white Chanel suit, hugged Moore, dressed in a gold shimmering gown. Moore looked misty-eyed as Almodóvar — in a cotton-candy pink suit — eagerly soaked in all the applause, with the crowd chanting, “Pedro! Pedro! Pedro!”

Almodóvar seemed to be individually waving to each fan in the Sala Grande theater throughout the rapturous applause. He clapped as Moore clutched his arm. As the ovation wound down, around minute 14, Almodóvar...

Wolfs has earned the best Rotten Tomatoes score for star George Clooney in eight years. The Brad Pitt and George Clooney movie features the stars as a pair of "lone wolf" fixers who find themselves hired to work the same job and are forced to work together in order to get themselves out of a sticky situation. The movie, which was written and directed by Spider-Man: No Way Home's Jon Watts, also stars Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan, Richard Kind, and the voice of Frances McDormand.

Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated the first early reviews for Wolfs following the movie's world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. Out of 11 different critics' reviews, the movie has earned a Fresh score of 71%. While the score could fluctuate as more reviews are added closer to the official release date, at the time of writing this score is the best...

George Clooney opened up about the recent sale of Paramount Pictures to Skydance Media and how it affected upcoming Hollywood actors. Clooney had worked with the studio several times on projects like Suburbicon and Up in the Air. Clooney shared that the movie business market is getting eaten up by the big media conglomerates.

Matt Damon, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt in Ocean’s Eleven | Warner Bros.

He added that studios like Paramount helped in making stars out of actors, but the new system may not help progress the career of an actor. The Ocean’s Eleven actor also touched upon a positive side to all this, sharing that it opened up opportunities to more actors in the industry.

George Clooney Explains Why It’s Difficult For Hollywood To Make Stars Like Him Clooney and Pitt in a still from Wolfs | Credits: Apple Studios

George Clooney shared that Paramount, once one of the great original studios,...

George Clooney was recently asked by GQ magazine about Paramount Pictures’ pending sale to Skydance. The two companies reached a sale agreement in early July worth a reported $8 billion. Clooney has a rich history with the studio. His 2017 directorial effort “Suburbicon” was released domestically by Paramount, while the studio was also behind some of his other titles like “Up in the Air,” which scored him an Oscar nomination for best actor.

“Paramount’s one of the great original studios,” Clooney said when the topic of Paramount being sold came up. “But some of it you just have no say in. Because the business, it’s all getting eaten up. It’s like everything — it’s all getting eaten up by big Walmarts and Amazons around the world. Our version of mom-and-pop shops in a small town is Paramount.”

As reported by Variety, Skydance and its partners will invest more than...

Matt Damon's return as Jason Bourne in 2016's reboot marked the last time he portrayed the iconic character in the celebrated franchise. Damon's interest in reprising his role for Bourne 6 has yet to be confirmed, leaving fans eagerly awaiting any updates on his potential return. While Green Zone failed to reach the success of the Bourne films, Damon and director Greengrass have shown resilience with the Jason Bourne reboot.

Matt Damon's first Jason Bourne replacement was an overlooked box office failure. Damon has been the face of the Bourne franchise ever since the first film The Bourne Identity was made back in 2002. Interestingly, he made that film with director Doug Liman, who he recently reconnected with after 22 years on Apple's upcoming heist comedy The Instigators, which Damon stars in alongside Good Will Hunting alum and Oscar winner Casey Affleck. Paul Greengrass took the reins of the Bourne franchise for 2004's Bourne Supremacy,...

George Clooney’s New York Times op-ed calling for President Biden to drop out of the election felt like something more than standard-issue celebrity activism for a few reasons. For the political class, it was not just an actor speaking, but a major Democratic Party donor and fundraiser — one whose insight on Biden’s age and manner was bolstered by his having seen the President in action at a June 15 fundraiser.

But for the general public, something more ineffable is at work. On- and off-screen, Clooney has painstakingly constructed an image for himself that’s unlike practically any of his peers on the A-list. As an actor and as a public figure, Clooney is a self-styled American conscience, a leading-man throwback who provides a sort of guiding sensibility to the films he anchors, and to the causes he supports.

Beyond his fundraising for the Democrats, Clooney is a plainspoken advocate...

Clooney's latest directorial effort "The Boys in the Boat" has a 97% Rotten Tomatoes audience score but only 57% critic score. The disparity between critic and audience reviews reflects a trend in Clooney's directorial career of high audience scores and mixed critical reception. Despite the divided reviews, audiences praise the film for its true story, emotional moments, and strong performances.

George Clooney's latest directorial effort The Boys in the Boat has received an outstanding Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%. The celebrated Oscar-winning actor, best known for his iconic leading roles as Danny Ocean in the Ocean's trilogy (2001 - 2007) and Matt King in The Descendants (2011), is also an accomplished director. Clooney made his feature directorial debut with 2002's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind which he starred in alongside Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, and Sam Rockwell. Since then, he has directed a total of nine feature films, including 2023's The Boys in the Boat.

Exclusive: Actress and filmmaker Karimah Westbrook, known for her role as Grace James on CW’s All American, has signed with Innovative Artists for representation.

Westbrook has played the lead role of Grace James, Spencer’s (Daniel Ezra) mother, on All American since the pilot. The popular series is currently airing its sixth season and recently celebrated its 100th episode.

Westbrook recently directed an episode of All American. She also wrote, starred in, produced and directed the short film New Growth that premiered at the Cannes Short Film Corner in 2021.

Her other acting credits include the feature Suburbicon, directed by George Clooney, The Rum Diary and American Violet. She also has guest-starred on Shameless, Aquarius and Masters of Sex, among others.

Westbrook is also repped by Zero Gravity Management.

The Boys in the Boat, which is directed by George Clooney, ranks sixth on a new streaming movie popularity chart. The film earned mixed reviews from critics but has a strong 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Made on a budget of $40 million, The Boys in the Boat ended its theatrical run with $55.5 million worldwide.

The Boys in the Boat has found success on streaming after its theatrical release last year. Directed by George Clooney, the Amazon MGM Studios historical drama tells the story of the Washington University rowing team who end up taking home the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Boys in the Boat reviews were mixed from critics, but the audience reception to the film has generally been much more positive, as evidenced by its 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now Reelgood reveals that The Boys in the Boat ranks as the sixth most popular movie on streaming in the U.

George Clooney will make his Broadway acting and playwriting debut next spring in a stage adaptation of his 2005 film about journalist Edward R. Murrow.

In the play, which is also entitled Good Night, and Good Luck, Clooney will play Murrow as he pushes executives at CBS to allow him to continue to deliver critical reporting on U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist efforts. Clooney wrote the Broadway play with Grant Heslov, who co-wrote the screenplay with Clooney.

Good Night, and Good Luck will premiere on Broadway in spring 2025 at Shubert theater to be announced.

“I am honored, after all these years, to be coming back to the stage and especially, to Broadway, the art form and the venue that every actor aspires to,” Clooney said in the press release.

Clooney directed the 2005 film and played Fred W. Friendly, co-producer of Murrow’s television program, See It Now, with Murrow,...

The last time I spoke to Noah Jupe was four years ago when he was just 15 years old. It was over Zoom, and he was promoting HBO’s “The Undoing” from a Detroit hotel room, where he was under mandatory quarantine waiting to be cleared to start work on Steven Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move.”

At the time, Jupe’s list of credits already included “The Night Manager,” “Suburbicon,” the first two “A Quiet Place” films and “Ford v Ferrari.” He had earned a Spirit Award nomination for his work starring role in “Honey Boy,” director Alma Har’el’s drama loosely based on Shia Labeouf’s childhood.

The British actor is now 19 and I’m meeting him once again over Zoom — this time, he’s in his London-area home — for this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. He’s promoting Apple TV+’s “Franklin.” The limited series follows Benjamin Franklin,...

If you’d have to guess, you would not probably get closer to the movie that terrified George Clooney. Of course, in our heads, Batman & Robin would pop up to be the scariest movie in his career but it was far from it.

George Clooney as Batman

Certainly, Clooney would hate to talk about his disastrous 1997 DC movie playing Batman against Arnold Schwarzenegger’s supervillain Mr. Freeze. However, the decorated Hollywood actor has opened up about the movie that sent shivers down his spine.

George Clooney Was Terrified Of One Coen Brothers Movie George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

George Clooney and the Coen Brothers have been long-time collaborators as the actor went on to appear in five movies from the directors duo. As their go-to guy, Clooney appeared in Intolerable Cruelty, Burn After Reading, Hail, Caesar!, and Suburbicon but his appearance in the 2000 movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou?...

Matt Damon's new thriller Drive-Away Dolls, directed by Ethan Coen, redeems his past failure working with the Coen Brothers. Drive-Away Dolls uses the Coen Brothers' style alongside a raunchy storyline and brutal deaths. While Matt Damon's role in Drive-Away Dolls is entertaining, his best role remains as La Beouf in the Coen Brothers' True Grit.

The new 2024 thriller with Matt Damon, Drive-Away Dolls, makes up for his $25 million bomb from seven years ago. Actor Matt Damon has worked in Hollywood for 36 years and has appeared in several prolific films, like Good Will Hunting, The Martian, and The Talented Mr. Ripley. The actor even won an Oscar in 1998 and the Joel Siegel Award in 2011, which is granted to an actor who uses their celebrity to do good for others.

However, like every great actor, not every one of Matt Damon’s movies is a success. Some of his biggest flops include The Brothers Grimm,...

George Clooney is opening up about why he has “more fun” directing than he does acting.

The Oscar winner recently spoke with Sky News about his latest directorial project, the film The Boys in the Boat.

During the interview, Clooney admitted that when it comes to directing compared to acting, “It’s more fun, you have a lot more control. I get to boss them around and I don’t have to learn how to row,” he quipped.

The Gravity actor added, “It’s fun to come in in the morning and it’s fun to write a screenplay and then have somebody build a set that you wrote, it really is.”

While Clooney has starred in dozens of projects, including Ticket to Paradise, Up in the Air, Michael Clayton, Ocean’s Eleven and ER, he has also directed a handful of films throughout his career such as The Tender Bar,...

There’s a gripping story to be told in The Boys in the Boat. Daniel James Brown’s best-seller gained acclaim for depicting how nine Depression-era boys defied the odds and inspired a nation rowing crew for the U.S. in the 1936 Olympics. It’s a tale rife with optimism and intrigue – all of which director George Clooney siphons away in this bland, rote adaptation.

It’s the middle of the Depression when Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) decides to go out for Washington’s rowing team as a way to pay for his college education. Most of the young men on the team, coached by Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), are there not because they have a passion for crew but because they simply want the paycheck. While they’re a ramshackle lot to begin with, over time the Jv crew team outshines the varsity squad and eventually wins a spot in the Olympics in Berlin,...

George Clooney’s directing career has been one of both ecstasy and agony. His bold, respected spy dramedy debut (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) was immediately followed by the incredibly lauded (and incredibly great) period drama Good Night and Good Luck. What followed was a run of more mixed fare. One film was ambitious and flawed (The Midnight Sky), one overrated (The Ides of March), one undercooked (Leatherheads), and two really didn’t work. Then came The Tender Bar in 2021, a modest piece of work featuring nuanced performances from an impressive cast. It’s an old-fashioned picture starring Ben Affleck, who offers many old-fashioned, matinee idol charms, square jaw and all. Perhaps Clooney learned something about himself as a filmmaker with The Tender Bar: he may be at his best when breathing life into fact-based drama and not trying to be too cute about it.

Clooney’s back in...

Updated with statement from Silver’s rep: Iconic producer Joel Silver has been fired from the forthcoming Amazon film Play Dirty, Deadline can confirm. While the decision reportedly stemmed from alleged verbal abuse on Silver’s part toward studio execs over creative differences, Amazon has declined to comment.

The first of a number of projects in the works at Amazon centered on the Parker crime novels by Donald E. Westlake, which were written under the pen name Richard Stark, Play Dirty was at one point supposed to star Robert Downey Jr., sources said, but while he’s no longer involved in that capacity, with Mark Wahlberg now attached to star, Downey remains aboard to produce for Team Downey and had left the project well ahead of the fallout with Silver. The project was set to reunite Silver with writer-director Shane Black following their work together on such titles as The Nice Guys, Predator,...

Matthew Vaughn plans to reboot the Kick-Ass franchise without the original cast, requiring a new actor to take on the role of the title character. The reboot may feature either the original Kick-Ass character, Dave Lizewski, or the introduction of a new hero named Patience Lee. Fan suggestions for potential actors to play the new Kick-Ass include Jack Dylan Grazer, Sonequa Martin-Green, Noah Jupe, Tessa Thompson, Jaeden Martell, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Jharrel Jerome, Keke Palmer, Finn Wolfhard, and Lupita Nyong'o.

Matthew Vaughn has announced a reboot of the Kick-Ass franchise without the original cast, so it’s time for another actor to don the turquoise wetsuit. The Kick-Ass series revolves around a nerdy high schooler who decides to emulate the superheroes in the pages of his beloved comic books by putting on a goofy costume, going out on the dangerous streets of New York City, and fighting crime as a masked vigilante.

An inspirational true story turned into a bestselling novel is about to make its way to the big screen. That tends to be the natural playbook for these sorts of dramas, but this one in particular comes loaded with an extra amount of star power. 

Based on author Daniel James Brown's book of the same name, "The Boys in the Boat" tells the well-documented events surrounding the 1936 Summer Olympics and the feats accomplished by the US men's rowing team from the University of Washington. As with other incredibly underdog stories, the stories of the individuals involved -- all of whom were working class athletes struggling to come out the other side of the Great Depression, almost rivals the magnitude of their achievements.

A few significant differences with "The Boys in the Boat," however, comes from its A-list director George Clooney and the historical backdrop of Nazi Germany hosting the...

Hollywood megastar George Clooney has come out in support of SAG-AFTRA and its 160,000-strong membership as the performers union takes to picket lines.

“This is an inflection point in our industry,” Clooney said in a short statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

“For our industry to survive that has to change. For actors, that journey starts now,” he added as the actors union goes on strike after failing to reach a new deal with studios and streamers.

SAG-AFTRA members join Writers Guild of America members, on strike since early May, in the first double strike in Hollywood since 1960, which looks to largely shut down the film and TV business.

Clooney in his statement added “actors and writers in large numbers have lost their ability to make a living.”

The Oscar-winning actor, director and producer broke through with his role in NBC’s hit TV series ER before appearing in such...

Matt Damon opens about one unfortunate filming experience, revealing that he once fell into a depression because he realized a movie he was actively shooting wasn't good. Best known for hit movies like the Bourne franchise, Good Will Hunting, The Martian, and The Departed, Damon's next project is a collaboration with filmmaker Christopher Nolan on Oppenheimer, in which he plays American military officer Leslie Groves Jr. Although he's been involved in a number of critically-acclaimed hits, the actor has also appeared in some movies that weren't as well received.

In a recent interview on the Jake's Takes YouTube channel (via Variety), Damon recalls a sudden realization he had while filming a movie that left him feeling depressed about its quality. Check out the clip below (the relevant section begins at 10:44):

The actor doesn't name the film in question, but recalls realizing about halfway through filming that things weren't exactly looking good.

A few key franchise players have been confirmed to return in A Quiet Place Part III, with exciting new actors also joining the cast. The Quiet Place franchise takes place in a post-apocalyptic future in which most of humanity has been wiped out by alien invaders with a heightened sense of hearing. The remaining survivors have to stay silent, or they’ll be snapped up like the rest of the human race. This sci-fi horror universe has the potential for countless stories, including the upcoming prequel spinoff A Quiet Place: Day One.

The first A Quiet Place movie set up a sequel with the Abbott family figuring out how to fight the aliens using the signal from daughter Regan’s hearing aid. A Quiet Place Part II ended with Regan leaving her hearing aid attached to the microphone at a radio station, allowing the signal to be weaponized by others...

For years, Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net has been about two things only – awesome art and the artists that create it. With that in mind, we thought why not take the first week of the month to showcase these awesome artists even more? Welcome to “Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net.” In this column, we are focusing on one artist and the awesome art that they create, whether they be amateur, up-and-coming, or well-established. The goal is to uncover these artists so even more people become familiar with them. We ask these artists a few questions to see their origins, influences, and more. If you are an awesome artist or know someone that should be featured, feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected] month we are very pleased to bring you the awesome art of…

Tom Coupland

Tom Coupland...

Exclusive: Smokehouse Pictures partner George Clooney and Grant Heslov have signed an overall film deal with the Warner Bros. Pictures Group and its Co-Chairs and CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. It amounts to a homecoming for the filmmakers, who named their company for the Smoke House steak joint right off the Warner Bros lot, where they used to eat all the time. Clooney’s history with the studio goes back to his breakthrough starring role in the Warner Bros Television drama ER. They made their first deal at Warner Bros when they formed Smokehouse in 2006.

The duo told those who attended with them during a Q&a session at last Friday night’s screening of All The President’s Men that is part of a monthly screening series of WB classics set up by De Luca & Abdy. Clooney and Heslov will return to offices on the lot — one of...

Devanny Pinn has almost 90 screen acting credits to her name, with many of those credits being for roles she has played in horror film. Credits include Frost, Death Count, Pretty Boy, The Sunday Night Slaughter, The Dawn, Crossbreed, Death Hotel, Lilith, Party Bus to Hell, Scary Story Slumber Party, Dwelling, House of Manson, The Devil’s Nightmare, The Black Dahlia Haunting, and The Los Angeles Ripper. Now The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Pinn is making her feature directorial debut with a thriller of her own, a 1970s serial killer tale called Black Mass, which started filming in Los Angeles last Friday.

Inspired by real events, Black Mass is set over a 24-hour period in Florida during the winter of 1978 when college girls were being stalked by a serial killer. Eric Pereira and Brandon Slagle wrote the screenplay.

Pinn has assembled a cool cast for the film, and some...

Paramount+ is not just the home of the Taylor Sheridan universe, it has also quietly assembled one of the best film libraries of any of the streaming services. Look no further than the list of what’s new on Paramount+ in March, which includes prestige dramas like “12 Years a Slave” and “Last of the Mohicans,” iconic thrillers like “The Sixth Sense,” “The Rock” and “Crimson Tide,” delightful rom-coms like “Kate & Leopold” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary” and other classics like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sunset Boulevard” and “Galaxy Quest.”

And that’s not to mention the new originals premiering in March: Kiefer Sutherland plays a corporate espionage operative framed for murder in “Rabbit Hole,” while “School Spirits” follows a high school teen who suddenly discovers she’s dead and still haunting her school.

Check out the full list of what’s new on Paramount+ in March 2023 below.

Also Read:...

The Coen brothers are celebrated for their quirky, ambiguous, and thought-provoking movies, and they are at their most creative when working with George Clooney. Joel and Ethan Coen have been making movies since 1984, and though their output together has slowed down, they have built a Rolodex of regular A-list collaborators. One of those collaborators is movie star George Clooney, who first worked with the filmmaking brothers on the over-the-top musical comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? That movie was a modest success at the box office and a critical hit, and since then, the filmmakers and actor have worked on four more outrageous movies together.

Clooney is best known as the charming, stable, and reliable protagonist, whether it's in something as ridiculous as the Clooney-hated Batman and Robin or as thrilling as Ocean's Eleven. The actor has built his career on his charisma, but that's what makes his collaborations with the Coen brothers so fascinating.

As an actor, you can count on George Clooney to deliver the goods -- whether that means flashing that legendary, mischievous smile of his, or buttoning down the charm to play a more conflicted and possibly amoral character. As a director, however, you can never be too sure which Clooney you're going to get. There's the one who gave us the fascinating "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and the riveting "Good Night, and Good Luck." Then there's the one behind the political thriller "The Ides of March" and the apocalyptic survival drama "The Midnight Sky," both of which have their merits but are hurt by weak stories. Finally, we have the Clooney who helmed stuff like "The Monuments Men" and "Suburbicon," which are baffling misfires given the wealth of talent involved in making them.

Whether you feel Clooney is a capable journeyman who's convinced himself he's an auteur (as /Film's...

Exclusive: Famke Janssen (X-Men franchise) and Rose Williams (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) will topline Locked In, a contemporary psychological thriller from Netflix, which is currently in production in London and the UK. Others in the cast include Alex Hassell (Violent Night), Finn Cole (Animal Kingdom) and Anna Friel (Monarch).

The first feature directed by award-winner Nour Wazzi (The Last Bus) pits the unhappy newlywed Lina (Williams) against her brittle, damaged mother-in-law, Katherine (Janssen). An affair sets Lina onto a journey of secrecy, betrayal and murder — and a plot to seemingly destroy her. But who is the real victim, and who can she truly trust?

Rowan Joffé wrote the script. Nicky Bentham (The Duke) is producing for Neon Films, with Alison Jackson exec producing for Gaumont.

Best known for starring roles in the Taken and X-Men film franchises, Janssen has...

Click here to read the full article.

Olivia Wilde’s second feature behind the camera, Don’t Worry Darling, will more likely be remembered for the offscreen intrigue — tabloid romance, lead actor replacement, a glaringly public serving of custody papers, a rumored clash between director and star — than it is for much else in this umpteenth Stepford Wives knockoff. That’s not to say it’s without sizeable pluses, chief among them a meaty lead role for the dependably compelling Florence Pugh, who hasn’t played a woman in this much peril since Midsommar. It also scores points for allowing Chris Pine to show what a devilishly charismatic villain he can be.

The high-concept, low-satisfaction psychological thriller marks an ambitious upgrade in scope for Wilde from the character-driven coming-of-age comedy of Booksmart, and she handles the physical aspects of the project with assurance. It’s just a shame all the effort...

Exclusive: Mather Zickel (Better Things) will star alongside Olivia Applegate, Clé Bennett, Zoé De Grand Maison, Nicholas Logan Sam Trammell and Jessica Frances Dukes in Michael Patrick Jann’s Western horror film Organ Trail for Paramount Pictures, which has wrapped production.

The film written by Meg Turner finds a young Abigale Archer friendless and alone in a brutal Montana winter during the 1870s—fighting for survival and to retrieve her one earthly possession, her family’s horse, from a gang of bloodthirsty bandits. Zickel is playing Pa Archer, a gaunt but imposing figurehead that has a commanding energy balanced by an instinctive compassion. In the throes of a brutal Montana winter, Pa’s steadfastness and sense of purpose—along with the skills he learned as a soldier in the Civil War—are the foundation on which his family’s survival rests. Jann is producing alongside David Codron.

Zickel will next...

Veteran producer Joel Silver (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey and Amazon Studios are partnering to develop a series of feature film and television projects based on Donald E. Westlake’s series of highly popular Parker crime fiction novels, written under the pseudonym Richard Stark.

The first project emerging from the deal will be the film Play Dirty, in which Downey Jr. (Marvel’s Avengers franchise) is set to star as Parker, a professional thief who approaches his job with a straightforward, no-nonsense work ethic. He’s a craftsman. He’s brutal, brilliant. He’s also deadly. He’s whatever it takes to get the money and get away clean. The Parker character was first introduced in 1962’s The Hunter from Pocket Books and featured in 23 other titles from Westlake, subsequently serving as the basis for such films as Parker with Jason Statham,...

While George Clooney has vacillated from acting to directing for two decades now, starting with 2002’s “Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind,” the actor/director has really picked up the pace in the last few years. Since 2017, he’s directed three films, “Suburbicon” (2017), “The Midnight Sky” (2020), and “The Tender Bar” (2021). And at his current rate, he’ll have had three films out in three years if this new project pans out like it will.

Continue reading ‘The Boys In The Boat’: Joel Edgerton Joins Callum Turner As Director George Clooney Rounds Out His Cast at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Michael D. Cohen, known for his work on Nickelodeon’s Danger Force and Henry Danger, has signed with Paradigm for representation.

The actor-writer-director is best known for his work as Schwoz Schwartz on the two Nickelodeon series. Danger Force recently received a GLAAD Media Award Outstanding Kids & Family Programming nomination for “Manlee Men,” a June 2021 episode Cohen co-wrote and directed. Henry Danger won the Kid’s Choice Award for Best Show in 2017 and 2020, and was nominated in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

His additional television credits include Angie Tribeca, The Mindy Project, 2 Broke Girls, The Real O’Neals, Backstrom; Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job and Modern Family. On the big screen he has appeared in An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, Suburbicon, Whiplash and It Was You Charlie.

Beyond the screen, Cohen founded the “Trans Youth Acting Challenge,” an initiative to support young trans and non-binary actors in helping discover and...

When George Clooney jumped to directing he claimed to be motivated by the kinds of movies Hollywood doesn’t make anymore—screwball comedies, sober political thrillers, and on. In the past decade his performances have grown less frequent while he’s turned increasingly prolific behind the camera, but an ambition to recapture the spirit of the Hollywood of bygone eras has been replaced by merely trying to imitate his most famous collaborators. He hit a career low with Suburbicon, an ill-fated attempt at infusing social commentary into an abandoned Coen brothers script, and more recently tried following in the footsteps of Alfonso Cuarón with The Midnight Sky––reportedly one of Netflix’s most-watched titles of all time, yet one never discussed following its Christmas debut last year.

Clooney is one of Hollywood’s most likable actors, yet almost impossible to root for in his directorial efforts. The Tender Bar does...

Exclusive: Liana Liberato has signed on to star in Todd Bogin’s first feature, Left with Only Rain, with Jordan Rodrigues (Ladybird), Rumer Willis (Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood), and Richard Kind (A Serious Man) also joining the cast.

The thriller centers on Sabina Geshem, a young woman reeling from a breakup, who is struggling to rebuild her once-promising dance career. After a dalliance with her ex threatens her big comeback, Sabina goes to a small town to track him down. There, she discovers his new and pregnant girlfriend, inserting herself into the unsuspecting woman’s life, and seeking something other than closure.

Bogin penned the script for the film, which 2×4 Productions’ Dustin Williams will produce alongside Gabriel Francisco and Rafael Francisco of Francisco Productions.

Liberato recently wrapped production on K. Asher Levin’s Dig, an indie feature in which she stars opposite Emile Hirsch.

Deborah McIntosh and Alex Walton will lead WME Independent, a new division of WME that will handle domestic and international film sales and film financing consulting services. Both were most recently at Endeavor Content, which WME’s parent company Endeavor Holdings is selling a majority stake in as part of a settlement agreement with the Writers Guild of America that limits major agencies’ ability to package material.

The new group will bring film sales and film financing consulting services back inside the agency and will offer both domestic and international film sales services.

“WME Independent will serve as a critical vehicle to fuel our clients’ projects while providing the global perspective necessary to navigate today’s content marketplace,” said Dan Limerick, WME’s chief operating officer, in a statement. “Deb, Alex and their team have an undeniable track record of bringing many successful artist-driven projects to fruition, and we look...

WME on Monday launched WME Independent, a division to broker domestic and international film sales and film financing consulting services. It will be headed by Deborah McIntosh and Alex Walton, both of whom were most recently at Endeavor Content.

Those deals had for years been steered under Endeavor Content, but that entity is in the process of being sold off as a freestanding production entity. McIntosh and Walton will bring film sales and film financing consulting services back inside the agency and will differentiate itself in the marketplace by offering domestic and international film sales services.

“WME Independent will serve as a critical vehicle to fuel our clients’ projects while providing the global perspective necessary to navigate today’s content marketplace,” WME chief operating officer Dan Limerick said. “Deb, Alex and their team have an undeniable track record of bringing many successful artist-driven projects to fruition, and we look forward...

Endeavor Content senior vice president Kristen Figeroid has exited the agency as others in the unit’s sales and distribution unit prepare to head back to WME, sources close to the situation told Variety.

Figeroid joined Endeavor Content in 2018 as senior VP of sales and distribution. Her departure last week was amicable, one insider noted, and the executive is exploring a return to working with boutique and international-focused film finance and sales agencies.

The film sales team at Endeavor Content, meanwhile, is set for a return to WME in the wake of the agreement the agency signed earlier this year with the Writers Guild of America. The deal that settled a nearly two-year standoff over TV and film packaging also requires them to divest themselves of 80% of Endeavor Content by year’s end, while talent agency packaging of TV series and film projects will mostly cease to be as of June 30, 2022.

Endeavor Content,...

Exclusive: Shane Paul McGhie (Deputy) and Karimah Westbrook (All American) have signed on to star in Panorama, a short film exec produced by former New York Giants player Spencer Paysinger and the NFL team’s current defensive end, Leonard Williams.

The film, written and directed by former theater director Scott Felix, is described as a sense-bending drama that tells the story of Sam (McGhie), a young man grieving the unexpected loss of his Mother (Westbrook). Upon being hit by a car, Sam is catapulted into a near death experience where his Mother guides him through various chapters of his life.

Panorama also stars Thomas Q. Jones (Luke Cage), Myles Cranford (Mindhunter), Maleah Goldberg (On My Block) and Krystian Alexander Lyttle (Foster Boy).

Jordan Orsak, Jevin Lee, Jp Hughes and Dane Morck are set to produce the short, which is heading into production in Los Angeles. Paysinger and Williams exec produce alongside McGhie.

Exclusive: Actress and filmmaker Karimah Westbrook has signed with Zero Gravity for management.

Westbrook has played the lead role of Grace James, Spencer’s (Daniel Ezra) mother, on the CW’s All American since the pilot. The popular series is currently airing its third season.

Westbrook co-wrote, starred in produced and directed the award-winning short film Best Kept Secret.

Her other acting credits include the feature Suburbicon, directed by George Clooney, The Rum Diary and American Violet. She also has guest-starred on Shameless, Aquarius and Masters of Sex, among others.

“We couldn’t be more excited about working with Karimah here at Zero Gravity,” said Zero Gravity partner Eric Williams. “A wonderfully talented actress, we’ve admired her work over the years, most recently as a force on All American. As she is now writing and directing her own material, we look forward to continuing to elevate her career as a multi-hyphenate.

When George Clooney approached Alexandre Desplat about scoring “The Midnight Sky,” he told him right off the bat that he would have to write more music that he ever has before for a film. “When a director says something like that, you always think maybe it’s a fantasy and you’re going to be able to escape the iceberg that’s coming towards you with this huge amount of music to write,” Desplat tells Gold Derby (watch above). “But he was right. From the script to the film, there’s a big gap, and I wasn’t sure the movie would be as silent as it is now and that music would convey the emotions, the dangers that the characters are experiencing. But yes, he was right, and I had to compose a lot of minutes of music.”

It was about 90 minutes total and all of it made it into the Netflix film.

Photo: 'The Midnight Sky'/Netflix It’s hard to believe but the last time George Clooney was in movies was four years ago with 2016’s ‘Money Monster’: for historical context, that was the final year of the Obama administration. And yet, the actor-director-activist has kept busy: last year he executive produced, directed, and co-starred in the ‘Catch-22’ miniseries on Hulu. At the same time, he continued his numerous humanitarian efforts with his wife Amal Clooney and became a father to twins. This brings us to ‘The Midnight Sky’ on Netflix, which marks Clooney’s return to big-screen acting as well as his seventh directorial effort after 2017’s ‘Suburbicon’. Based on the novel ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ by Lily Brooks-Dalton, this is certainly his most ambitious film as a director—a sci-fi doomsday/dystopian drama. But Clooney’s aiming for something different here with an emphasis on emotion and personal stakes.

There’s a lot that’s frustrating about George Clooney’s new film “The Midnight Sky,” from its egregious borrowing from any number of better movies to its pacing issues, but thanks to a few grace notes, its shortcomings are mostly forgivable.

Premiering December 23 on Netflix, it’s a film that sees Clooney entering a new phase of his acting career, and it also represents an uptick among his directorial output, on the heels of the misbegotten “Suburbicon” and “The Monuments Men.” Audiences will find much of “The Midnight Sky” familiar, but that familiarity puts its original moments and ideas into sharp relief.

Some cinematheque or other needs to host a “George Clooney in space” retrospective, connecting his acting efforts in films as philosophically diverse as “Gravity,” “Solaris,” and “Tomorrowland,” and each of those efforts has certainly flavored this new feature, written by Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”), based on...

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Two-time Oscar winner Goerge Clooney directs and stars in Netflix’s final awards contender to drop to streaming during this calendar year, the science fiction drama The Midnight Sky. Based on a novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton, the film follows a lone scientist (Clooney) in the Arctic who must contact a group of astronauts to stop them from returning to earth. This is Clooney’s first film as an actor since 2016’s Money Monster and his first as a director since 2017’s Suburbicon. The film will join a curiously large cinematic trend of 2010s Hollywood: the astronaut drama...