It’s official: George Clooney likes his farm animals. Okay
maybe not, but he has just signed on to star in the adaptation Brit journalist
Jon Ronson’s 2004 non-fiction curiosity The Men Who Stare at Goats. Chronicling
the U.S. Army’s dabbling in the paranormal, known as the First Earth Battalion,
it is a darkly comic look at how such programs have contributed to modern
psychological techniques for interrogation and by extension its role in the War
on Terror. The odd title is in reference to the notion that one can kill a goat
simply by staring at it – expect a name change on this one folks.
Helming the picture is Clooney’s production partner (and
fellow actor) Grant Heslov (Good Night, and Good Luck), marking his first jaunt
behind the camera. Hopefully he’s learned a thing or two from his buddy. Peter
Straughan’s script has been kicking around for a while, even topping the 2007
Brit List of best unproduced scripts. Clooney is no stranger to picking up highly
touted unproduced screenplays, having made his own directorial debut with
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind which had been making laps around town for
years.
No distributors have been attached with Clooney’s own Smoke
House Productions, BBC Films, Mandate Pictures, and Winchester all in bed to produce. Clooney’s
schedule seems to be open so lensing may begin fairly soon though no solid details have
been announced.
