You may have noted my mention of a playwright named Beau Willimon last week. If not, it was in a post about a remake of the British miniseries The Jury, which Finding Neverland's Marc Forster will direct. I pointed out that Forster actually handpicked Willimon to be the screenwriter of that project after reading the guy's play Farragut North. The political drama is set to open on Broadway early next year with Jake Gyllenhaal starring and Mike Nichols directing, and I figured that eventually there'd be a movie in the works, possibly with that prestigious duo re-teamed for the big screen version. But no, it seems Gyllenhaal and Nichols just aren't good enough for Warner Bros., who owns the film rights. Instead they've cast some guy named Leonardo DiCaprio for the lead and are hoping to sign on some old television has-been named George Clooney to direct.

According to Variety, the project is also being produced by DiCaprio's company, Appian Way (The Aviator), and Clooney's company (with Grant Heslov), Smoke House (Leatherheads); both companies apparently teamed up after reading the script (were they at the same party as Forster?) and then together brought the thing to Warners. In the film, DiCaprio will play a young idealist working on a presidential campaign who ultimately ends up resorting to bad tactics like backstabbing and trickery. Basically, it sounds like the sad story of the common politico who still thinks there's room for Mr. Smith's out there, only to wake up and discover the real world of Washington. But as much as it sounds familiar, or obvious, or otherwise trite, it seems the play is somewhat autobiographical, as Willimon based it on his experience working on Howard Dean's 2004 campaign. Certainly the film would be a great timely release for 2008, but right now the film, which Willimon is adapting himself, doesn't have a clear start date. Hopefully Warners can grab DiCaprio as soon as he's done with Ridley Scott's Body of Lies and Clooney as soon as he's done with the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading for a just-in-time Fall opening.

While it's been understood for a while now that Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney were going to break up, the official date is now set: Come August 1, that two-timing Clooney will (in a business sense, of course) move in with Good Night, and Good Luck writing and producing partner Grant Heslov and create a new label, called Smoke House. Clooney's departure will mean the end of new projects from Section 8, the production company that he and Soderbergh started in 2000 "with an eye toward nurturing offbeat and 'message' movies and TV projects." Don't worry about Steve, though -- in fact, his desire to focus more on directing and less on the business side of movie-making was one of the reasons for the shake-up. Despite the change of partner and office space, the move probably isn't that big of a change for Clooney: Smoke House, like Section 8, will be based on the Warner's lot, and the new company has already signed a long-term first-look deal with the studio. Plus, Heslov has been involved in Section 8 almost from the beginning, so this is more of a practical change than a revolution in focus or interest.