Sony Acquires George Clooney’s THE IDES OF MARCH; Set for Release in December 2011

Sony has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to George Clooney’s next directorial feature, The Ides of March.  Based on the Broadway play Farragut North, the political drama–which is loosely based on the 2004 Democratic Primary run of Howard Dean–is set to star Ryan Gosling as “a young press spokesman who falls prey to backroom politics.”  The film will also star Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, and Clooney.  According to Variety, Sony wanted to keep the title as “Farragut North”, but Clooney insisted that it be changed to The Ides of March (which is a reference to the seer’s unheeded warning of Caesar’s death in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar).

The studio is planning to release the film in platform release next December before expanding wide in January 2012, which probably means they think that the film has awards potential.