Back in November, we heard George Clooney was heading back to television to direct and star in a series based on Joseph Heller‘s classic novel, Catch-22. However, at the time the six-episode mini-series didn’t have a network or streaming partner. That has now changed.
Hulu has announced that they will stream the series, adding it to their growing line up of original series in their bid to compete with Netflix. While Hulu’s own original series have been quite hit or miss, this is an easy decision to bring in one of the biggest movie stars in the world to adapt a beloved novel.
Hulu Chief Content Officer Joel Stillerman seemed aware of that when he said:
“Catch-22 is a rare story that has withstood the test of time, not only as a literary masterpiece, but as a story that still resonates in today’s political and social conversation.
These are exactly the types of stories we want to be programming at Hulu, and we couldn’t be happier to partner with George Clooney, Paramount TV and this phenomenal group of creatives to bring one of the most well-known books of all time to viewers in a way that has never been seen before”.
As Stillerman noted, the series comes from Paramount TV in conjunction with Anonymous content, and is written by Luke Davies (Lion) and David Michod (War Machine). Clooney will play antagonist Colonel Cathcart, who, obsessed with becoming a General, continues to try to impress his superiors by raising the number of missions it takes to fulfil a tour of duty.
In this era of ‘peak TV’, with movie stars jumping back to the small screen all the time, it puts a strain on consumers wallets, as it’s hard to just stay loyal to one streaming service when each one is offering some appetising new series. Hulu will be hoping the combination of Clooney and Catch-22 will bring plenty of new subscribers to them. Now for the hard part; making the series good.
#Peace.Love.Catch22
