George Clooney has a brand new update on his hands — his 2005 movie, Good Night, and Good Luck will be making its way to the Broadway stage, and the actor is making his own Broadway debut.
The news was announced in a statement shared by Playbill, with the actor's screenplay with Grant Heslov being adapted to the stage, and David Cromer attached to direct.
In a statement, the actor, who recently turned 63, remarked: "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."
What is George Clooney's new Broadway play about?
The 2005 film documents the story of veteran broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, starring David Strathairn in the lead role, co-starring Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr., and George himself. The star also wrote and directed the film, which was nominated for six Academy Awards.
The Syriana lead is one of many A-listers who are making their Broadway debuts this year or are set to do so soon, including Steve Carrell, the newly Tony-nominated Rachel McAdams, and Good Night, and Good Luck star Robert.
Why is George Clooney's new Broadway show so personal?
The story itself has a very personal connection for the Oscar-winning actor — he has ties to journalism himself, having majored in broadcast journalism while attending Northern Kentucky University.
His father, Nick Clooney, was also a longtime television anchor, having worked for the AMC Network for five years, among several other positions, before running for Congress in 2004.
MORE: Amal Clooney could be a movie star in shoulder-baring dress alongside husband George
© Getty ImagesHollywood stars on Broadway right now
© Getty ImagesAs A-listers continue making their move beyond entertainment mediums, here are the biggest Hollywood stars you can catch this season in the theater...
- Rachel McAdams in the play Mary Jane
- Eddie Redmayne in the revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
- Daniel Radcliffe in the musical Merrily We Roll Along
- Jessica Lange in the play Mother Play
- Sarah Paulson in the play Appropriate
- Steve Carell making his Broadway debut in Uncle Vanya
What else do we know about Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway?
Additional cast members and dates for the production have not yet been announced, although production company Seaview shared with Playbill that the show will likely open at NYC's Shubert Theater.
The director added in a statement: "Edward R. Murrow operated from a kind of moral clarity that feels vanishingly rare in today’s media landscape. There was an immediacy in those early live television broadcasts that today can only be effectively captured on stage, in front of a live audience."
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© AJ Pics / Alamy Stock PhotoWhat has George Clooney said previously about Good Night, and Good Luck?
During a recent appearance with wife Amal Clooney at the Skoll World Forum, when the couple discussed a war on "truth-tellers and journalists," George spoke about the reasoning behind making this movie.
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"Good Night, and Good Luck I wrote because I was being called a traitor to my country by my own country for being against the war in Iraq," he stated, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The idea was anybody who spoke out against the war in 2003 was a traitor, and it wasn't really fun. They were picketing my movies, and all that kind of stuff."
© Getty ImagesHe continued: "So we wrote it, because we liked the idea that it has to be entertaining, people have to be engaged. You can't go to Darfur and talk about 300,000 people dead because it just glazes over people's faces."
George concluded: "Storytelling is about finding a way to relate to people things that they can understand and not overwhelm them with peas and carrots."
