 |
Seven weeks of shooting are scheduled to begin Feb. 28, says the Hollywood Reporter, which describes the project as a film bio of the fabled CBS News anchor's legendary on-air confrontations with red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy when TV news was still in its relative infancy.
Clooney will play groundbreaking TV news producer Fred Friendly, to actor David Strathairn's Murrow. Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent) will also star.
Donning a third hat for the production, Clooney, 43, collaborated on the screenplay with Grant Heslov, which traces how Murrow and Friendly helped bring an end to the tyranny of the blacklist and the House Un-American Activities Committee's anti-Communist hearings.
This already has been a highly political season for Clooney. His father Nick ran for a Kentucky congressional seat with his son campaigning at his side. Despite the all-star effort, the elder Clooney, a Democrat, did not win.
