George Clooney is a 'Pioneer'; Olivia WIlde Goes to 'Meadowland'; January Jones Joins 'The Shuddering'

* Fresh off the $20M debut for The Monuments Men, which everybody over the age of 50 really loved, George Clooney is moving ahead with a new project. He and writing partner Grant Heslov are set to produce an English-language remake of 2013 Norwegian thriller, Pioneer. The original film was directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg and was "set in the early 1980s during Norway’s oil boom and centered on a man who, along with his brother, is laying pipeline in the North Sea, diving deeper than anyone else had before. When a tragic accident strikes, he tries to get to the bottom of it (no pun intended), and realizes he’s in way over his head and that his life is in danger." At this point it doesn't appear Clooney has any plans to direct or star, and Heslov isn't writing the script. [THR]

* Olivia Wilde is branching out by producing and starring in Meadowland, a Chris Rossi-penned thriller about " a mom whose son disappears, a jolt that puts her on an unexpected and dangerous path toward acceptance as she seeks out a relationship with a neglected boy and watches it take an unexpected turn." Promisingly, the film will mark the directorial debut by Frozen River and Kill Your Darlings cinematographer, Reed Morano. [Deadline]

* There have been dark religious undertones in many of George Ratliff's directorial efforts (Joshua, Hell House, Salvation Boulevard), but it sounds like he's sticking to the basics with his new film, The Shuddering. January Jones has come aboard to lead the supernatural thriller about "a woman who returns to the town where she first began to experience strange visions. Determined to get to the bottom of it, she unravels a mystery that goes back farther than she could imagine." [THR]

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Sandra Bullock in Talks for George Clooney's 'Our Brand is Crisis'

After what must have been a harrowing shoot on Alfonso Cuaron's sci-fi thriller Gravity, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock may be venturing into the equally spaced-out world of politics. Before they took on Ben Affleck's political thriller Argo, Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov were planning to make an adaptation of Rachel Boynton's documentary Our Brand is Crisis their next project. Obviously they've been pretty busy since then but now the film has been revived with Bullock circling one of the leads.

Bullock is in early talks for the film, which features a script by Peter Straughan, writer of the Clooney-produced The Men Who Stare at Goats. The original doc focused on Bill Clinton's political strategist James Carville and Stan Greenberg and the role their American campaign tactics played in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. Sounds a little bit like the Chilean drama No, which dealt a presidential campaign based on American TV commercials.

Sounds perfectly in the Clooney wheelhouse although it's unknown if he'll co-star alongside Bullock. He's certainly not jumping into the director's chair as he's had enough problems putting the finishing touches on Monuments Men.

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George Clooney and 'Argo' journalist may reunite for drug smuggling film

When he's not busy directing films like the historical thriller Monuments Men, or starring in them like Alfonso Cuaron's upcoming sci-fi project Gravity, George Clooney has managed to earn quite a reputation as a producer. Fresh off his Oscar win for producing Ben Affleck's Argo, Clooney and his longtime partner Grant Heslov are turning to a familiar source to plan their next effort.

It was Joshuah Bearman's 2007 Wired article that was the inspiration for Argo, and now The Wrap is reporting that Clooney and Heslov are in talks to adapt his upcoming piece, Coronado High. Since it hasn't hit newsstands yet, all we know is that it "involves a group of teenagers who are used to smuggle drugs in Coronado, which is an affluent resort city near San Diego, California.” 

Clooney is eying the director's chair on this one, and considering the political undertones of the material it's clear why it drew his interest.  This one may still be a ways off, as Clooney will need to finish shooting Monuments Men, which releases this December and is already being pegged as an early Oscar contender. He also has Brad Bird's super-secret Tomorrowland, which begins filming in a few months.

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George Clooney to produce and star in Paul Greengrass-directed crime film

I can think of worse actors to latch on to than Tom Hanks and George Clooney for making a big Hollywood comeback. For Paul Greengrass, the last couple of years have been pretty tough. Green Zone bombed, his Martin Luther King biopic stalled out(it's now back on again), and the fourth Jason Bourne film did perfectly fine without him. But next year he's back with Hanks starring in the Somali pirates flick, Captain Phillips, and now he'll be working on a crime film alongside Clooney.

Variety reports that Greengrass will direct an untitled crime pic from Argo screenwriter Chris Terrio. Clooney and his usual partner Grant Heslov will produce, with Clooney set to star in the film which is set within the New York crime syndicates. Clooney and Heslov produced Argo, so they're familar with Terrio already. This'll be the first time they've worked with Greengrass, though. Considering Clooney and Greengrass' penchant for political films, I'm hoping they can bring a little bit of that into this new project.

This is a hugely exciting development, so let's hope it goes off without a hitch.

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