George Clooney has landed his next directorial gig. The two-time Oscar winner has been tapped to direct the spy thriller series, The Department, which Showtime has just given a straight-to-series order. Clooney will direct as well as serve as the executive producer of the series under his Smokehouse Pictures.
The Department is based on the hit French drama series Le Bureau des Legendes (The Bureau of Legends), which received wide universal acclaim throughout its five season run. Showtime's version will follow the same plot line as the original series, which "centers on the daily life and missions of agents within France's principal external security service. It focuses on the "Bureau of Legends," responsible for training and handling deep-cover agents on long-term missions in areas with French interests. Living under false identities for years, these agents' missions are to identify and recruit good intelligence sources."
Showtime and Paramount Media President and CEO Chris McCarthy says the show will "follow in the great tradition of Homeland." Homeland, which was equally based on a foreign series, Israel's Prisoners of War, was heavily showered with critical praise and ran for 8 seasons on the Showtime cable network. “Just as Homeland elevated global espionage to new heights, The Department will take viewers even deeper into a world of intrigue and subterfuge with complicated characters who struggle with their own demons as they fight existential threats to the nation and the world,” McCarthy added.
Showtime is currently in the middle of major operational changes that will see the cable network integrate with Paramount+ to become "Paramount+ with Showtime." The new move, which is expected to take effect later this year, has seen Showtime ax a handful of shows including the yet unreleased Three Women, which had completed filming. The Department becomes the first new show the streamer has announced to be in development since news of the integration was made public. As part of its future strategy, McCarthy has revealed that the network will narrow its focus on developing shows with franchise potential, which is what they hope The Departments has the ingredients to become.
Also producing the show are MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. "We are thrilled to be partnering with George & Grant on this amazing project,” said David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios. Paramount+/Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios have been an incredible home to so many of our projects, and we are excited to once again work alongside Chris McCarthy, Keith Cox, Nina Diaz, and their incredible teams.”
George Clooney's Projects As A Director
Clooney made his directorial debut with the 2002 spy thriller, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and has since directed eight other projects. For his sophomore directorial effort Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) which he also starred in, Clooney was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He recently directed the Netflix science fiction film The Midnight Sky as well as the coming-of-age film The Tender Bar. He also directed the yet-to-be-released drama film, The Boys in the Boat.
Production for The Department is slated to start later this year.