LOS ANGELES – American actor George Clooney is set to make a comeback on TV in a serialised adaptation of Catch-22, Paramount Television said on Thursday.
The Oscar-winning actor Clooney, who left hit medical drama ‘ER’ nearly 20 years ago will direct and star in the six-episode series for Viacom Inc’s Paramount Television based on darkly comedic novel ‘Catch-22’ written by US author Joseph Heller in 1961.
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The series will begin shooting in early 2018 but has not yet been acquired by a network for distribution.
“Catch-22” follows a US soldier named Yossarian during World War Two, who is infuriated that his own army keeps raising the number of missions that a soldier must complete being released from duty.
“Yossarian’s only way to avoid the missions is to declare insanity, but the only way to prove insanity is a willingness to embark on dangerous missions, thus creating the novel’s absurd ‘catch-22”, said studio in a statement.
The 56 years old actor will play Yossarian’s commander, Colonel Cathcart. No other cast has yet been announced.
Clooney broke out as an actor on television series such as The Facts of Life, Roseanne” and as part of the original cast of medical drama ER in 1994, playing Dr Doug Ross.
He left ER in 1999 and since then has carved a successful career with films such as the Ocean’s Eleven franchise, Up in the Air and Gravity.
