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George Clooney Attached to Direct Adaptation of 'Enron' Musical

by Ethan Anderton
December 5, 2010
Source: The Guardian

Though he's in the process of preparing to direct and star in an adaptation of the stage play Farragut North (under the new title The Ides of March), it looks like he's lining up another adaptation of a stage production, but this time with some song and dance. The Guardian reports the film rights to Enron, the UK stage musical which tells the story of the corrupt energy company through the majesty of song. However, the creative team behind Britain's famed play, including the director and entire cast, won't be along for the ride as George Clooney is apparently attached to direct and the production is going for an American telling of the story.

The only remnant of the stage production seems to be playwright Lucy Prebble who will write the screenplay for the adaptation. As for director Rupert Goold, who won Best Director at the 2010 Olivier Awards for his work on Enron, he's not very pleased but smartly notes, "How do you compete with George Clooney?" It's risky to bring a musical from overseas, especially one that wasn't well received when it was reproduced on Broadway in the United States (it was done with after only 15 performances). One would think that the UK would get a crack at the film adaptation first, but that's Hollywood for ya.

Though Clooney is set to direct, it's unclear if Clooney will have any part onscreen in the production as well. However, even a Dapper Dan like George Clooney doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy some British naysayers. Philip Hedley, former director of the Theatre Royal Stratford East, said, "It's a great shame that the original talent hasn't been able to follow through, to put on to film what they've originally created." Of course, you can't blame producers for not wanting a British cast for a film that takes place in the America, focused on an American energy company, with many of its subjects being American themselves. The producer behind this new venture, Laura Ziskin (of Spider-Man fame) agrees wholeheartedly when she says, "This is an American story." My apologies to the original British cast and crew, but this seems to make sense. Either way, the prospect of an Enron scandal based musical sounds rather intriguing. What do you think?

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