George Clooney is coming to Broadway.

[Julie Yard]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 12:34pm

Wowwwwe a little bit. 

 

George Clooney to make his Broadway debut in a play version of movie 'Good Night, and Good Luck' (msn.com)

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 12:47pm

An adaptation of this was announced by Steppenwolf before the pandemic. It was to star a bunch of Steppenwolf Ensemble members and directed by Anna D. Shapiro. Obviously that was scuttled but its interesting that the adapter/playwright announced at the time was Matt Charman. I wonder if he'll still be credited in some capacity or that adaptation has been completely trashed as the article says the screenwriters are adapting. 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 1:04pm

Loved that movie, and it makes sense to adapt it to the stage.

A little curious that Clooney is playing Murrow this time around, but I suppose a star of his caliber wouldn't be in a supporting role on Broadway like his Fred Friendly was in the film.

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 1:11pm

Get ready for $300 rear mezz seats!

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 1:14pm

Wow this is huge. Looks like now it’s Clooney & Grant Heslov on the script now (they wrote the screenplay).

[inception]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 1:21pm

I wonder if it is the current economics of film making, where smaller "art house" films are not seen as profitable, that is causing A-list actors like George Clooney & Robert Downey Jr look at performing on Broadway?

Looking at the box office for Mr. Clooney's most recent directorial effort The Boys in the Boat, ​​​​​its receipts likely did not cover production & marketing costs.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 1:23pm

So this season has Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and now GEORGE CLOONEY? That’s some insane Hollywood A++ List on stage.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 2:22pm

inception said: "I wonder if it isthe current economics of film making, where smaller "art house" films are notseen as profitable, that is causingA-list actors like George Clooney & Robert Downey Jr look at performing on Broadway?

Looking at the box office for Mr. Clooney's most recent directorial effortThe Boys in the Boat,​​​​​its receipts likely did not cover production & marketing costs."
 

None of Clooney's directorial efforts have been major financial successes, and only one got real awards traction. He's a pretty bad director, imo. Good Night & Good Luck is the best thing he's done by a long shot, and even that's just okay.

Big stars come to Broadway regularly. Remember all the yelling around 2010 when "celebrities took over Broadway" - Denzel, ScarJo, Catherine Zeta Jones, Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Chris Walken, Jude Law, Kelsey Grammer, Sean Hayes, Carrie Fisher, and others.

Clooney, Downey, and Carell are an interesting case study: Broadway may have been a goal for a while, they're hovering around 60, all could use a career pivot, and 60 is a good time for an agent to say "hey, why don't you try that thing you've always wanted to do before you're too tired or before it looks like a desperate cash grab?"

I do think GN&GL feels like a bit of a cash grab. But it's got lead producers who know their way around limited-run plays (the prolific team of Seaview & Wagner/Johnson, alongside Jean Doumanian and Robert Fox).

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 2:25pm

People have to mortgage their homes to afford to see all these A-Listers.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 2:28pm

everythingtaboo said: "People have to mortgage their homes to afford to see all these A-Listers."

Nobody has to do anything and see everything.

Every show is not for every person.

Broadway should be so lucky if all of them sell well.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 2:46pm

Funny that Greg Nobile of Seaview who tried to insult Adam Feldman on Twitter during the Lempicka blowback by dismissing him as a critic who only likes "adaptations and stars in plays" is producing this (..his second stars-in-plays production for next season, no less).

Updated On: 5/13/24 at 02:46 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 2:58pm

Kad said: "Funny that Greg Nobile of Seaview who tried to insult Adam Feldman on Twitter during the Lempicka blowback by dismissing him as a critic who only likes "adaptations and stars in plays" is producing this (..his second stars-in-plays production for next season, no less)."

He's a joke. 🙄 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 3:02pm

Maybe the people will actually watch The Tonys next season. 

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 3:13pm

so does this mean

batman & robin : the musical

has been postponed

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 3:37pm

Neither the property nor the star interest me  enought to overpay for tix.   Denzel, Gyllenhaal and Downey on the other hand......I'm saving up my lunch money.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 4:23pm

If I can find a reasonable priced ticket to this, I'll still do it for the opportunity to see Clooney act live. But this at first glance, seems like a pretty underwhelming project. Everything Clooney had to say about Good Night, and Good Luck, we got nearly 20 years ago. 

It reminds me a little bit of Billy Crystal and Mr. Saturday Night, but since that was a fictional story, you could remix it and turn it into a musical.  Good Night, and Good Luck has a pretty specific narrative it has to stick to. It's probably going to feel like watching the movie in color, with Clooney playing another part.

[hork]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 5:02pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "everythingtaboo said: "People have to mortgage their homes to afford to see all these A-Listers."

Nobody has to do anything and see everything.

But if they did see everything, they would have to mortgage their homes. Was the joke really not clear?

 

[dwirth]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 6:57pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "inception said: "I wonder if it isthe current economics of film making, where smaller "art house" films are notseen as profitable, that is causingA-list actors like George Clooney & Robert Downey Jr look at performing on Broadway?

Looking at the box office for Mr. Clooney's most recent directorial effortThe Boys in the Boat,​​​​​its receipts likely did not cover production & marketing costs."


None of Clooney's directorial efforts have been major financial successes, and only one got real awards traction. He's a pretty bad director, imo. Good Night & Good Luck is the best thing he's done by a long shot, and even that's just okay.

Big stars come to Broadway regularly. Remember all the yelling around 2010 when"celebrities took over Broadway" - Denzel, ScarJo, Catherine Zeta Jones, Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Chris Walken, Jude Law, Kelsey Grammer, Sean Hayes, Carrie Fisher,and others.

Clooney, Downey, and Carell are an interesting case study:Broadway may have been a goal for a while, they're hovering around 60, all could use a career pivot, and 60 is a good time for an agent to say "hey, why don't you try that thing you've always wanted to do before you're too tired or before it looks like a desperate cash grab?"

I do think GN&GL feels like a bit of a cash grab. But it's got lead producers who know their way around limited-run plays (the prolific team of Seaview & Wagner/Johnson,alongside Jean Doumanian and Robert Fox)."

Clooney (and Downey... and perhaps to a lesser but still very meaningful degree, Carrell) is ultra rich by any standard. (Remember when he gifted a dozen friends $1MM each to thank them for their help over the years...?) He probably makes more any random week than he will make on the entire run of this show. He is doing Broadway because he can. 

A  "cash grab" is Hugh Jackman coming out of Wolverine retirement doing his new movie for, what, $50MM? A cash grab on another level - after an all-time huge,,crowd pleasing Broadway box office hit.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 5/13/24 at 7:40pm

Must have missed it in the press release, but David Cromer directing makes it a must for me, prices be damned. 

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 5/14/24 at 2:50am

dwirth said: "A "cash grab" is Hugh Jackman coming out of Wolverine retirementdoing his new movie for, what,$50MM? A cash grab on another level - after an all-time huge,,crowd pleasingBroadway box office hit."

It hasn't been released what Jackman is making for Deadpool & Wolverine, but I doubt he's being paid anything close to $50M, at least in upfront money. Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios is on the record saying he thought Jackman shouldn't return to play the character because the movie Logan is the perfect ending to his character's arc. 

Yes Jackman will probably make more from the Marvel movie than from The Music Man, but I don't think he's doing the movie because Disney made him an offer he couldn't refuse. The original plan was to make Deadpool 3 without him. 

[Playbill_Trash]

Posted: 5/14/24 at 8:13am

A “Shubert Theatre yet to be announced” with a huge Hollywood name sounds like Scott Rudin is working his magic again…..

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 5/14/24 at 8:29am

None of these major stars are doing it for the money- they are all extremely rich. They are doing it, most likely, for the challenge, the prestige and the accolades- being the toast of BWAY in a he sell out hit- which can do wonders for the ego and for the next possible career move.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 5/14/24 at 8:46am

"None of these major stars are doing it for the money- they are all extremely rich. They are doing it, most likely, for the challenge, the prestige and the accolades- being the toast of BWAY in a he sell out hit- which can do wonders for the ego and for the next possible career move."

It is also risky because it is entirely different being a film star than doing live theater eight shows  a week. While flopping will not ruin their career it would not do great things for their ego - lol. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/14/24 at 8:51am

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/14/24 at 9:06am

Playbill_Trash said: "A “Shubert Theatre yet to be announced” with a huge Hollywood name sounds like Scott Rudin is working his magic again….."

Then you must be mishearing things.

Seaview, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Jean Doumanian, and Robert Fox are the lead producers.

These are all producers with ties to Shubert and a track record of producing limited-run plays with stars. 

Rudin was not the first or last to do that. (and he fired the two of those people who used to work on his shows)