It looks like our desire to watch George Clooney go toe-to-toe with Hugh Laurie will just have to wait.
After originally signing to play co-lead in Catch-22, an upcoming six-part limited TV series from Hulu, against one Hugh Laurie, Clooney has decided to switch to a smaller onscreen role. The decision came from the star himself who is co-directing and executive producing the series and feels he will be stretched thin as a result.
While Clooney will focus on his duties behind the camera, consequently Kyle Chandler has been roped in to essay Col. Cathcart, the role originally meant for Clooney.
For Chandler, an Emmy-award winning actor, the role is a big coup. Best known for playing Eric Taylor in NBC’s Friday Night Lights, he has starred in several high-profile films in recent years including Manchester by the Sea, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Argo. The actor is also starring in the upcoming biopic on Neil Armstrong by La La Land director Damien Chazelle.
Catch-22, the series, is an adaptation of Joseph Heller’s novel of the same and is set in Italy during
World War II.
As for Clooney, this TV six-episode project will fetch him close to a million dollars per episode. His acting projects, besides this role, are unclear at this point as his focus remains on producing and directing projects. He is a producer of the upcoming all- star Ocean’s 8 film and an upcoming Casey Affleck film called Red Platoon.
