While it might appear that Hollywood hasn’t been paying attention to David Gordon Green, he’s quietly been putting himself back on the right radar screens by knuckling down with a string of indie flicks. The out of nowhere "Prince Avalanche" was a pleasant surprise, "Joe" earned terrific reviews and notices for Nicolas Cage‘s performance were oddly passable even if audiences didn’t care, and we can only imagine his forthcoming "Manglehorn" with Al Pacino is earning the right buzz in the right places. By which we mean… Green and George Clooney now roll hard together.
Green has been tapped to direct Sandra Bullock in "Our Brand Is Crisis," a long-gestating project over at Clooney and Grant Heslov‘s Smokehouse Pictures shingle. And it’s easy to see why the pair have stuck with this movie for so long. The dark comedy is based on great material, namely Rachel Boynton’s 2005 documentary of the same name regarding the role of James Carville‘s political consulting firm in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. It’ll be new territory for Green, as he’s never done something this directly political, but it’s right in Clooney’s sweet spot. The project already has a script by Peter Straughan (“The Men Who Stare at Goats”), and Bullock has been linked since late last year.
The film has received a greenlight over at Warner Bros., but not word yet on when filming might begin. But let’s hope these pieces in place means it’ll get rolling soon. [Variety]
6/24/15 Update: The film now has an October 31st release date.