The tide may have fully turned toward streaming when George Clooney’s signing on to direct and star within a Netflix project. Not that the Oscar winner is entirely new to the game, given that the E.R. actor recently made his return to TV with Hulu’s Catch 22. Still, he’s fresh on the scene and serves as some solid evidence that the streaming giant — quickly becoming known for films starring A-listers like Ben Affleck, Sandra Bullock, Will Smith, and Keanu Reeves — currently holds the competitive edge for attracting major talent.
Clooney’s Netflix debut will be an adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s Good Morning, Midnight, which follows the Good Night, and Good Luck actor’s newest character, a lonely scientist named Augustine, who’s stationed in the Arctic and trying to connect with another adult human being after the apocalypse. The parallel story of Sullivan, an astronaut aboard a spacecraft returning to Earth from Jupiter, follows her similar struggles while she fights to return home. Their stories, naturally, will intertwine on some level, per the Amazon book synopsis, and Clooney is pumped to direct this sci-fi thriller:
Clooney and Smokehouse Pictures’ Grant Heslov will produce alongside Anonymous Content and Syndicate Entertainment, who sourced the material. “Grant and I couldn’t be more excited to be involved with this incredible project,” said Clooney. “Mark is a writer we’ve long admired and his script is haunting. We’re thrilled to be working with our friends at Netflix as well.”
Can Netflix sustain all of this expensive content? No one knows the answer to that question yet, but the streaming wars sure are a spectator sport at this point. Event movies may be scarce at the box-office these days, but the time has never been better for at-home viewers to find (a whole lot of) something for everyone.
(Via Variety)
