George Clooney will make his Broadway debut in a play based on a film he himself directed and co-wrote: Good Night, and Good Luck, about the life of famed television journalist Edward R. Murrow.
In the film version, released in 2005, Clooney portrayed Murrow’s producer Fred Friendly. In the Broadway stage play, Clooney will play Murrow himself. Clooney also co-wrote the play with Grant Heslov, his co-writer on the original film of Good Night, and Good Luck
In a press release, Clooney said…
I am honored, after all these years, to be coming back to the stage and especially, to Broadway, the art form and the venue that every actor aspires to.
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Tony winner David Cromer will direct the production. In a statement, he said…
Edward R. Murrow operated from a kind of moral clarity that feels vanishingly rare in today’s media landscape. There was an immediacy in those early live television broadcasts that today can only be effectively captured on stage, in front of a live audience.
I’m not sure about that, but the idea of playing on the live nature of Broadway and comparing that to early television could be an interesting new dimension on the story.
Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck film was a solid arthouse hit in the mid 2000s, grossing some $55 million against a budget of less than $10 million. It was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor for David Straithairn, who played Murrow in the movie version.
The Good Night, and Good Luck play will premiere in the spring of 2025. The theater where it will be performed has yet to be announced.
