George Clooney is in talks with Amazon Studios to direct and produce a feature film version of J.R. Moehringer’s coming-of-age story “The Tender Bar: A Memoir.”
Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov would produce through their Smokehouse Pictures banner along with Ted Hope. William Monahan, who won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Departed,” has written the script for “The Tender Bar.”
An adaptation of Moehringer’s book, published in 2005, had been set up previously at Sony Pictures. The story centers on the author, who as a young boy is seeking a replacement for his father, a New York City disc jockey who had vanished before his son spoke his first word. When he can’t find his father’s voice on the radio anymore, the boy turns in desperation to the bar on the corner, where he finds friendship from his Uncle Charlie and other adults, who take him to the beach, to ballgames, and ultimately into their circle.
Moehringer became a newspaper reporter and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000.
Clooney’s feature directing credits include “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” “Leatherheads,” “The Ides of March,” “The Monuments Men” and “Suburbicon.” He also directed the upcoming post-apocalyptic thriller “Midnight Sky” for Netflix and Anonymous Content, starring opposite Felicity Jones, and directed and executive produced several episodes of “Catch 22” for Hulu.
He’s repped by CAA. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.