McGregor, Spacey, Bridges Stare At Goats Joining Clooney in Jon Ronson adaptation Source: The Hollywood Reporter
As befits a man who was the driving force behind the Ocean’s trilogy, George Clooney knows a thing or two about all-star casts.
That said, even he must be mightily impressed by the all-star line-up assembling for his latest picture, The Men Who Stare At Goats.
For starters, there’s Clooney himself – and he was joined today by Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges, who have all signed on to the black comedy, based on the book by Jon Ronson.
The film is just the latest movie to address the situation in Iraq, but it’s a good bet that no other Iraq movie has explored the ground that The Men Who Stare At Goats will cover: in other words, the development of psychic warfare. Told you.
McGregor – who’s putting together quite an impressive run of films of late, what with this, Angels & Demons, Amelia and I Love You, Phillip Morris – will play Bob Wilton, a desperate reporter (is there any other kind?) scrambling around for a story in wartorn Iraq.
Then he meets Lyn Cassady (Clooney), who claims to be a former US army psychic soldier, reactivated after 9/11. Together, the two men go on an odyssey throughout Iraq that will take them to the heart of the Army unit that has been tasked with creating soldiers blessed with paranormal powers.
And on that odyssey, they will meet Bridges, as Bill Django, the founder of the psychic programme, and Spacey as Larry Hooper, a former psychic solider now running a prison camp.
So, you could say that this one is political. Ahem. But it could also be a cracking black comedy, of the type rarely seen – although often attempted – since Dr. Strangelove.
Grant Heslov, Clooney’s producing partner, will direct, from a script by Peter Straughan. Filming will start in October.
this casting makes me really wanna see this movie, all the actors are incredible, esp Bridges whose casting is pure genius!!! the fact that its a black comedy too makes it even better!!! really lookin forward 2 it!! : ) ... Read More
This is some casting. havin read the book, the bridges character comes across as a cross between Col kilgore and The dude. The book is full of great set pieces and ripe for flashbacks and a sarcastic voice over. ... Read More
It's weird, a year or so back I met Peter Straughan at a screenwriting conference in Middlesborough. He was speaking on his experiences and mentioned some films he was working on - thet were this and How to Alienate People. He just seemed like a regular geordie guy - now he's working with Clooney. Damn him. ... Read More
McGregor said he wanted to be more choosy and this is, hopefully, evidence of that. More of this stuff Ewan, less of The Island and Star Wars. Nice one, hope this is as good as it sounds. ... Read More
