LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — George Clooney will make his return to television in a serialized adaptation of “Catch-22,” Paramount Television said on Thursday (November 16), nearly 20 years after he left hit show “ER” to become one of film’s biggest names.
Clooney will direct and star in the six-episode series, based on U.S. author Joseph Heller’s darkly comedic 1961 novel “Catch-22.”
The show has not yet been acquired by a network for distribution but is likely to draw eager bidders given Clooney’s involvement.
The actor’s move to television comes on the heels of Oscar-winning stars such as Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Robert De Niro and Michael Douglas, who have all taken on small screen projects in recent years.
Clooney,56, broke out as an actor on television series such as “The Facts of Life,” “Roseanne” and as part of the original cast of medical drama “ER” in 1994, playing Dr. Doug Ross. He left “ER” in 1999 and since then has carved a successful career with films such as the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise, “Up in the Air” and “Gravity.”
He most recently directed and co-wrote Paramount Pictures’ dark comedy-thriller “Suburbicon.”
