George Clooney is never one to shy away from controversy. The Oscar-winning filmmaker who has made some challenging and politically polarizing films such as Syriana, Good Night, and Good Luck and The Men Who Stare at Goats now plans to bring the hit West End play Enron to the big screen.
However, it appears that a few people aren’t happy with some of the choices that Clooney has made.
In September we learned that Spider-Man producer Laura Ziskin and Columbia Pictures were making the Enron film, but this is the first mention of Clooney’s attachment to the project as a producer – and Observer also states that he is “also likely to direct it”.
The official synopsis of the play reads as follows:
“One of the most infamous scandals in financial history becomes a theatrical epic in Lucy Prebble’s groundbreaking play ENRON. Mixing classic tragedy with savage comedy, it follows a group of flawed men and women in a narrative of greed and loss which reviews the tumultuous 1990’s and casts a new light on the financial turmoil in which the world finds itself in 2009.”
Along with the announcement that Clooney has come onboard as producer, we hear the news that the original British cast for the award-winning play will be ditched when the play makes the transition to the big screen – news that appears to have infuriated London’s West End.
Philip Hedley, the former director of the Theater Royal Stratford East, is quoted as saying:
“It’s a great shame that the original talent hasn’t been able to follow through, to put onto film what they’ve originally created.”
While an unnamed theater director told Observer:
“Everything works on celebrity and famous names.”
Rupert Goold, who won the Best Director Award at the 2010 Olivier Awards for Enron simply asked “How do you compete with George Clooney?”
Laura Ziskin defended the artistic choices for the film by stating that this would be a “new take” on Lucy Prebble’s play by saying:
“Once you’ve done something… you’ve done it. Let that stand on its own. This is an American story.”
The film version of Enron will have an uphill struggle. When the play made the move from the West End to Broadway, it closed after just fifteen performances. The producers may need to stock the film with some well-known faces to ensure that the film doesn’t die a painful death at the U.S. box office – a tactic that Clooney has employed for his big screen adaptation of Farragut North (retitled The Ides of March). Ziskin appears to be optimistic that- unlike Enron‘s debut on Broadway – the time is now right for this story to be told to U.S. audiences: “Maybe Americans didn’t want that mirror held up to them at that moment.”
Screen Rant will keep you posted as Clooney and company attach a cast and bring Enron to the screen.
Source: Observer
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Remember, show business is a business … until ideology is at play.
This one is an all but guaranteed flop … does anyone really wanna re-investigate this?
I’ve always admired Clooney for his ability to grow as an actor and his willingness to support tough projects. But this, on the heels of the snooze inducing “The American,” could chase his fan base away.
Oh come on! You have to give The American one thing: it cured my insomnia.
Clooney is a real business man these days! Up in the Air and now this! Great role for him.
I know he likes this political stuff, but he’d be better off playing Peter Gunn. Blake Edwards and Paramount own part of the rights and Paramount likes him, so why not do something fun? As the Joker would say, “Why…so… serious?!”
I don’t know. Am I the only person who isn’t enthralled with his acting skills?
I don’t “hate” him per se (Southpark reference), but I see so little difference between any of his acting roles and his personality when being interviewed, that I wonder if he isn’t just reading lines and just being himself. So obviously, the guy is drop-dead gorgeous. But that’s not normally enough to get by… in most situations.
I have to agree. All but your last sentence, of course.
Who else could star in Enron than Zac… Efron.
See what I did there?
The only disappointment I feel in this is that he beat me to it. I am currently a film student and making a movie about ENRON is easily my biggest passion. For years now I imagined it being my future careers big moment (hey, a guy can dream.) I’ve read Prebble’s play a dozen times, Bethany McLean’s The Smartest Guys in the Room is less then 3 feet from me, and the ENRON documentary is the only movie in my iTunes library. My phone background is the Enron E. Needless to say, I would do literally anything to be a part of this movie.
The story of Enron is the perfect American tragedy. The term “perfect” being used very loosely of course. The Idea of an unbeatable empire built on a bed of lies, run by Caesar-esque leaders is interesting enough for anyone. And that is before you factor in the real lives of Skilling, Lay, and Fastow. That they KNEW what was happening. They knew that everything would fall through, but they couldn’t get past their pride. I’d imagine it got so bad that every time they would look in the mirror they no longer see themselves. How could they when they had to be these all-star business tycoons?
Anywho, it’s a GREAT story and, if I know Clooney, it will be a great movie. It’s undeniable that the guy knows movies. I just wish he hadn’t been so brilliant and beat me to the punch.
Good luck George. Good luck to all involved.
Good Night, and Good Luck.