News > George Clooney and Grant Heslov "Stare at Goats"

George Clooney and his Smoke House partner Grant Heslov have picked up Peter Straughan's screenplay "The Men Who Stare at Goats." Clooney will star and Heslov, who co-wrote "Good Night and Good Luck.", will direct. The film is based on a book by British journalist Jon Ronson, who investigated "the U.S. Army's First Earth Battalion, a unit that was to use paranormal powers. Title refers to the notion that one can kill a goat by staring at it" (Variety). It may sound like a Python sketch, but it's all true.

Yes, supposedly this is nonfiction. Read what the Guardian had to say about the Ronson's book. Hilarious and frightening seem like the two best adjectives. Apparently, this script was named one of 2007's best unproduced British screenplays. Straughan also wrote "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," which should be coming out this October starring Simon Pegg, Gillian Anderson, Megan Fox, Jeff Bridges, and Kirsten Dunst. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Smoke House duo do with this kind of source material.

-David Morgan