new york – George Clooney will make his Broadway acting debut next year in “Good Night and Good Luck,” a familiar project for Hollywood stars.
Clooney will play legendary television journalist Edward R. Murrow in the stage adaptation of the 2005 film, which he wrote and directed, was nominated for an Oscar and was a Best Picture nominee.
“After so many years, I am honored to return to the stage, especially Broadway, an art form and venue that every actor admires,” Clooney said in a statement.
The play Good Night and Good Luck, directed by David Cromer, is scheduled to premiere at Broadway's Shubert Theater in spring 2025, to be announced later. Clooney and Grant Heslov will once again co-write the film.
The 90-minute black-and-white film, starring David Strathairn as Murrow, is a natural fit for a play. Conversation-heavy actions unfold in small sets. The title comes from Murrow's sign-off on the television series See It Now.
A key part of Clooney's film depicts Murrow's struggle to maintain support from CBS executives for his critical coverage of Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who is known for accusing public servants of dishonesty. was. Clooney played Fred Friendly, the co-creator of “See It Now,” who resisted intense pressure and ensured the report got aired.
Murrow, who died in 1965, is considered one of the architects of American broadcast news.
“Edward R. Murrow acted with a kind of moral clarity that seems to be becoming rare in today's media environment. Although there was an immediacy to early live television broadcasts, Today, it can only be effectively captured on stage in front of a live audience,” Cromer said in a statement.
The Clooneys are champions of journalism. Clooney's father, Nick Clooney, worked as a television news anchor and host in various cities including Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles. He also wrote a newspaper column in Cincinnati and taught journalism students at American University.
At the time the film was released, Clooney said his family was proud of how journalists held the government to account amid the paranoia surrounding the communist threat in the 1950s. Clooney said he wanted to make the film to get people to hear “the well-written words of the Fourth Estate again.”
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