Last month, Vulture broke the news that George Clooney had teamed up with writer Peter Tolan (The Larry Sanders Show) and director Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) for a dark comedy series project set in the early 1990s film industry. “The only question now is where it will land and what sort of financial commitment it will generate,” we wrote. Here’s the answer: Showtime has won the rights to the hourlong Sony Pictures TV–produced show (tentatively called The Studio) and has ordered a script from Tolan, with a financial penalty attached if a pilot isn’t filmed. Multiple networks (cable and streaming) took meetings on the projects, and we hear multiple networks made offers. Clooney will produce via Smokehouse Pictures, the production company he runs with partner Grant Heslov. We’ve heard there’s a chance he might even appear on-camera in the show, though it’s far too early in the development process to predict with any confidence that such a casting will actually happen.
