Fresh off their Oscar wins for producing Argo, it appears that producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov are zeroing in on yet another project from the same source writer.  Joshuah Bearman wrote the 2007 Wired article that was adapted into the screenplay for Argo, and now The Wrap reports that Clooney and Heslov are planning to produce an adaptation of Bearman’s upcoming article “Coronado High.”  As the article has yet to be published, further details are fairly thin.  The story is said to involve “a group of teenagers who are used to smuggle drugs in Coronado, California,” which is a wealthy resort city near San Diego.

Sony Pictures is in talks to acquire the project, and it is being planned as a potential directing vehicle for Clooney.  The multitalented Clooney is currently directing the WWII film Monuments Men, which he co-wrote with Heslov and also stars in.  That film is set for release this December.

Production has commenced on George Clooney’s fifth feature directorial effort, the action-thriller The Monuments Men.  The Columbia Pictures/20th Century Fox co-production tells the true story of an unlikely World War II platoon made up of museum directors, curators, and art historians tasked by FDR with going into Germany and rescuing artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves before they are lost forever.  Clooney directs, stars in, and produces the film alongside his Smokehouse Productions partner Grant Heslov, with whom he also co-wrote the script.  Moreover, Clooney has assembled a truly remarkable cast that includes Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, John Goodman, and Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey).

Unfortunately Daniel Craig is not listed as part of the cast in the official press release, so it appears that he may have dropped out of the film.  Hit the jump for more, including the full press release.

George Clooney has lined up an incredible cast for his next film, Monuments Men.  As we previously reported, the story centers on a group of art experts selected by the U.S. Government to chase down the stolen art of Europe during World War II.  Aside from the terrific premise, Clooney, who co-wrote the film with partner Grant Heslov, will star alongside a cast that includes Daniel Craig, Jean Dujardin, Bill Murray, and Cate Blanchett.  Dujardin, Murray, and Blanchett had previously been mentioned in connection with the film, and Craig is a strong addition along with other new cast members John Goodman, Bob Balaban, and Downton Abbey‘s Hugh Bonneville.

Hit the jump for more.

Based on real events, Argo, from director/producer/star Ben Affleck, is a smart, edge-of-your-seat thriller that has Oscar written all over it.  The film chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans who escaped the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran when the militants stormed the building on November 4, 1979 and took 52 American hostage.  In order to fly out of the country and back to safety, they had to rely on CIA exfiltration specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck) to head the mission that required them to pose as a Canadian filmmaking team wanting to shoot a sci-fi movie in their country.  The film also stars Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scott McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Kyle Chandler and Chris Messina.

At the film’s press day, Ben Affleck, along with screenwriter Chris Terrio and producer Grant Heslov (a principal partner in Smokehouse Pictures with George Clooney), talked about how they all came to be a part of bringing this incredible story to the big screen, how much input George Clooney had on the production, the most challenging scene to shoot, Tony Mendez’s influence on the film, and the Oscar buzz that has already started.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

ER reunion alert!  Well, sort of.  George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov have signed on to produce longtime ER showrunner John Wells’ impressive next directorial feature, August: Osage County.  The film is based on the Pulitzer/Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts and follows “the women of a family whose lives have splintered in many directions until a crisis bring them back to their childhood home and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.”  The Weinstein Company is backing the pic, which is set to star Meryl Streep as the family’s pill popping matriarch and Julia Roberts as her daughter.

Though he’s directed numerous television episodes (including ER and The West Wing), Wells made his feature directorial debut with 2010’s The Company Men.  Casting for August: Osage County is ongoing, but Clooney and Heslov make yet another impressive addition to this promising production.  Filming is set to get underway this fall, so expect Streep’s name to be among the 2013 Best Actress nominees.  Hit the jump to read the press release.

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards have finally been unveiled. Many of the categories have fallen in line just as most have predicted (I fared alright with my predictions, but not great), with Hugo scoring 11 nods, followed closely by The Artist with 10. The biggest surprises are War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting in for Best Picture, the exclusion of The Adventures of Tintin from Best Animated Feature, and The Tree of Life nabbing Best Picture and Best Director nods (hooray!). On the snub side of things, despite landing the most precursor critics awards of any other actor in the race thus far, Albert Brooks was denied a Best Supporting Actor nod for his stellar work in Drive (boo). Additionally, Tilda Swinton was overlooked for giving the best performance of the year in We Need to Talk About Kevin, and AMPAS has no love for Michael Fassbender‘s haunting work in Shame.

There’s still plenty to be happy about, as Gary Oldman has his first ever Oscar Nomination (yes, that’s right) and Melissa McCarthy is a Best Supporting Actress nominee. Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees. The 84th Academy Awards will be presented by Billy Crystal on February 26th.

George Clooney and his Smokehouse producing partner Grant Heslov have optioned Dangerously Funny, David Bianculli’s account of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.  Additionally, they have hired Brian Hecker (Bart Got a Room) and Craig Sherman (New Suit) to write the adaptation.  I always prefer a biopic that focuses on a specific period of time rather than try to arc out an entire lifetime.  So I am encouraged that the book appears to focus on the three years the show was on the air (1967-69), which will be plenty for the movie.

Created by Tom and Dick Smothers, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour featured skits, the brothers’ folk songs, and popular music acts like George Harrison, Ray Charles, and in an infamous appearance, The Who.  It quickly evolved into the go-to show for edgy, incisive comedy at the height of the Vietnam War era, especially for young audiences.  The writing staff proved to be a breeding ground for future comedy greats like Steve Martin, Albert Brooks, and Rob Reiner.  The brothers were constantly in conflict with the network censors over criticism of the president and the war, until CBS finally cancelled the series in 1969.  More, including a synopsis of the book and clips from the show, after the jump.

Ben Affleck’s Argo began shooting today.  The film has a killer cast that includes Affleck, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, Rory Cochrane, Victor Garber, Richard Kind, and Michael Parks.  I don’t really care about press releases announcing that filming has commenced (what’s newsworthy is when it looks like filming will commence and then it doesn’t), but this press release includes the first official synopsis for the movie.  Check it out:

Based on true events, “Argo” chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis—the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades.  On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist named Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.

Okay, so that doesn’t point out that his plan is to use a fake movie as cover for the operation, but that’s the hook.  Affleck co-wrote the script with Good Night and Good Luck. screenwriter Grant Heslov.  Hit the jump for the full press release which includes a rundown of the behind-the-camera talent.

George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s production company Smoke House Pictures is developing a film about the Wall Street bailout, based on the 2009 Washington Post article “The $700 Billion Man.”  Said man is Neel Kashkari, the steward of $700 billion set aside for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008 to bail out failing banks following economic collapse.  The experience wrecked Kashkari.  He resigned after 7 months in Washington, D.C. and moved to a remote cabin in Northern California.

According to Variety, Clooney is considering The $700 Billion Man as a possible directing vehicle.  Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction) will write the script.  Read more about the story after the jump.

Following the critical and commercial success of The Town, we’ve watched Ben Affleck deliberate over his follow-up.  Possibilities include a film about the conflict in eastern Congo, Replay, The Trade, and American Bullshit.  Just a hunch, but the latest option could be the one that sticks.  Affleck is in early negotiations to direct Argo , a political drama which revolves around the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.  George Clooney and Grant Heslov (The American) are producing along with David Klawans (Nacho Libre).

Chris Terrio (Heights) wrote the script based on a Wired magazine article titled “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran.”  Read about the wacky spy hijinks after the jump:

Director Anton Corbijn’s The American made decent bank at the box office in September with a $35.6 million domestic rake, and yet it currently sits at a less-than-enticing 38% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is doubtless a product of the sly Hollywood marketing machine, which sold this meditative character study as a late-summer Bourne-substitute with megastar George Clooney. Many of you may have fallen victim, but I ask those wounded souls and the newcomers alike to give The American a chance now that you’ve been properly warned. It’s neither flashy nor deeply poetic, but it refreshingly plods along to the beat of its own patient tempo in showing the day-to-day activities of a weary assassin attempting to find solitude. My review of the DVD after the jump.

George Clooney is attached to star in Fox 2000′s adaptation of The Monster of Florence, the best-selling book by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.  Following a move to Italy, Preston his new home was near the site of two of the murders by the serial killer known as “The Monster of Florence.”  Preston joined forces with Spezi to learn more about the decades-old case, but their investigation was unwelcomed by the local police — the force tapped Preston’s phone and threw Spezi in jail.

Clooney will play Preston, and produce alongside Grant Heslov, Dan Jinks, and Bruce Cohen.  Christopher McQuarrie is writing the screenplay with his Valkyrie co-writer Nathan Alexander.  Hit the jump for a brief history on the path of The Monster of Florence from page to screen, plus a synopsis.

Mis-advertising of movies is a disservice to film patrons and to the very movies the trailers and television spots seek to promote.  False expectations simply can never be met, and setting them in the first place exhibits an extreme lack of faith in the film in question.  Grant Heslov’s The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring Ewan McGregor as a journalist investigating the US Army’s one-time secret psychic soldier program and George Clooney as a former member of said program, suffers from such a misguided marketing plan.  More after the jump:

Like a lot of you guys, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is now one of my most anticipated films.  I thought the film was going to be about the Iraq war and was just going to star George Clooney, but I admittedly didn’t know anything about the film.  I just wrote it off as another boring Hollywood Iraq war movie.  Then, I saw that oh-so-good trailer the other week and I was sold by the time that I saw George Clooney dissolve a cloud with his mind.  Even though I kind of wish this was actually a documentary, it still looks like a hilarious and fun time to me.  Anyway, the film now has a new poster and you can stare at it when you hit the jump.

We all thought that Ewan McGregor was done with Jedis. He’s spent his time as Obi-Wan, and has since moved on to a myriad of other cinematic pastures – or so we thought. Now he’s back in a new Jedi film, but this isn’t from the mind of George Lucas, and these warriors don’t use light sabers to fight. They use their minds. Read on to learn about “The Men Who Stare at Goats.”