Clooney, Section 8 examine McCarthy era in 'Good Luck'
Channeling Murrow
Nov 6, 2004
George Clooney will direct and star in a new Section Eight and 2929 Entertainment production, "Goodnight, and Good Luck," about the renowned CBS News anchor Edward R. Murrow's legendary on-air confrontations with red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy that helped bring down the infamous politician in the mid-1950s.
Principal photography is set to begin Feb. 28 for seven weeks in Los Angeles. David Strathairn and Patricia Clarkson also star.
Produced by Steven Soderbergh, Clooney and Grant Heslov, the film is being financed by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban's 2929 Entertainment. Another production company also is in negotiations to co-finance the film. Executive producers on the project are Ben Cosgrove and Jennifer Fox.
Overseas co-production partners are France's Metropolitan Films, the U.K.'s Redbus and Japan's Tohokushinsha. Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film domestically, and 2929 International, the foreign distribution arm of 2929 Entertainment that is headed by Shebnem Askin, will handle international sales. Askin is introducing the film to overseas buyers at AFM in Santa Monica.
The screenplay by Clooney and Heslov traces the true story of how Murrow (Strathairn), and his producer, Fred Friendly (Clooney), helped bring an end to the tyranny of the blacklist and the House Un-American Activities Committee' anti-Communist hearings. With the platform provided by his CBS News program "See It Now," Murrow challenged McCarthy on his claims that hundreds of avowed Communists were working covertly as Soviet spies in the U.S. government, among other allegations that at the time had the power to destroy lives and careers.
Clooney and Section Eight had long been developing a Murrow-themed project as a TV movie to be staged as a live dramatic production for CBS, much as Clooney spearheaded and starred in the ambitious live telecast of nuclear-thriller "Fail Safe" for CBS in April 2000. It was unclear late Friday how the decision came about to shift from a telefilm to feature production.
Clooney directed the Chuck Barris biopic "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," in which he also starred, and is about to hit the big screen again in "Ocean's Twelve," which he also executive produced. Clooney and Soderbergh are partners in the Warner Bros.-based Section Eight film and TV production banner.
Strathairn's credits include "The Firm," "Passion Fish," "L.A. Confidential" and, more recently, "Blue Car." He is working on three new productions: "Woodcutter," "The Ballad of Bettie Page" and "Heavens Fall." Clarkson has recently completed work on three films: "Conquistadora," "The Dying Gaul" and "The Woods." Her other films include "The Station Agent," "Dogville," "Pieces of April," "Far From Heaven" and the Section Eight production "Welcome to Collinwood."
Principal photography is set to begin Feb. 28 for seven weeks in Los Angeles. David Strathairn and Patricia Clarkson also star.
Produced by Steven Soderbergh, Clooney and Grant Heslov, the film is being financed by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban's 2929 Entertainment. Another production company also is in negotiations to co-finance the film. Executive producers on the project are Ben Cosgrove and Jennifer Fox.
Overseas co-production partners are France's Metropolitan Films, the U.K.'s Redbus and Japan's Tohokushinsha. Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film domestically, and 2929 International, the foreign distribution arm of 2929 Entertainment that is headed by Shebnem Askin, will handle international sales. Askin is introducing the film to overseas buyers at AFM in Santa Monica.
The screenplay by Clooney and Heslov traces the true story of how Murrow (Strathairn), and his producer, Fred Friendly (Clooney), helped bring an end to the tyranny of the blacklist and the House Un-American Activities Committee' anti-Communist hearings. With the platform provided by his CBS News program "See It Now," Murrow challenged McCarthy on his claims that hundreds of avowed Communists were working covertly as Soviet spies in the U.S. government, among other allegations that at the time had the power to destroy lives and careers.
Clooney and Section Eight had long been developing a Murrow-themed project as a TV movie to be staged as a live dramatic production for CBS, much as Clooney spearheaded and starred in the ambitious live telecast of nuclear-thriller "Fail Safe" for CBS in April 2000. It was unclear late Friday how the decision came about to shift from a telefilm to feature production.
Clooney directed the Chuck Barris biopic "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," in which he also starred, and is about to hit the big screen again in "Ocean's Twelve," which he also executive produced. Clooney and Soderbergh are partners in the Warner Bros.-based Section Eight film and TV production banner.
Strathairn's credits include "The Firm," "Passion Fish," "L.A. Confidential" and, more recently, "Blue Car." He is working on three new productions: "Woodcutter," "The Ballad of Bettie Page" and "Heavens Fall." Clarkson has recently completed work on three films: "Conquistadora," "The Dying Gaul" and "The Woods." Her other films include "The Station Agent," "Dogville," "Pieces of April," "Far From Heaven" and the Section Eight production "Welcome to Collinwood."
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