Clooney exits early; U turns out '13 Days'
The film, which has a March start date, is by Beacon Communications, which developed it and is partly financing under its U deal. Beacon chairman Armyan Bernstein is taking the project out to other studios, and word is he'll find a new home for it in fewer than 13 days.
Based on a script by David Self -- who, based on the script, got a multipicture DreamWorks deal and the job scripting the Jan De Bont-directed "The Haunting of Hill House" -- "Days" tells the story of the pivotal events surrounding the crisis from the standpoint of Kenneth O'Donnell, who was chief of staff in the Kennedy White House. It's described as a mix of "A Few Good Men" with the technology of "Apollo 13."
Universal might have been wary of a budget in the $80 million range, but there were other concerns. Beacon, Costner and Robinson want the film about one of the seminal events of the century to be in theaters just before the millennium.
U already has four high-profile projects pegged for the same release window. Ironically, three are Beacon pics, with the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starrer "End of Days," the Denzel Washington-starrer "Lazarus the Hurricane," and "Family Man," which will likely star John Travolta, with "Rush Hour" helmer Brett Ratner mentioned as a possible director. So U let the film go.
It's the second high-profile pic halted since the shakeup in the U exec suites, following the grounding of "Leatherheads," the gridiron pic with Steven Soderbergh directing and George Clooney starring.
CLOONEY CLOSURE: If the set of "ER" is minus the usual holiday cheer, it's because the cast is about to film the episode that will mark the exit of George Clooney. After five seasons, Clooney will end his run as pediatrics specialist Doug Ross in an episode which executive producer John Wells wrote himself and which will air during the February sweeps.
After the ratings success of the recent "NYPD Blue" episode in which Jimmy Smits went out with a dramatic death scene, NBC is sure to play up Clooney's departure. Unlike Smits, Clooney's going out on his feet and there's every possibility that he could reemerge in an episode next season or thereafter.
The original plan called for Clooney to depart in the season finale, which marks the end of his original "ER" pact. But Clooney, Wells, Warner Bros. and NBC made a decision to have the exit come midseason so the show could build momentum and new storylines once he left. Unlike Smits, Clooney's not being replaced, but Noah Wyle is expected to subtly assume that heartthrob role, with other castmembers boosting their screen time. The midseason exit worked well for Sherry Stringfield, the first original castmember to depart, and squelches summer speculation about what would happen the following fall without Clooney.
Clooney, who is leaving to concentrate on his feature career and his WB-based TV and movie production companies, exits with just about as many positive feelings among his castmates as Smits had on "NYPD Blue." While some might question ankling the top rated show in TV as well as the most profitable in history, it's not a hard choice for the actor.
He established himself as the show's first breakout star and made a decision early that features were his future. Clooney has lived up to his original contract that pays him $42,000 an episode, never once trying to get a raise or cash in on the $13 million per show license fee which NBC agreed to pay Warner Bros. He makes dramatically less than co-star Anthony Edwards, who reupped as the show's catalyst star for about $360,000 an episode, and Wyle's almost $300,000 an episode.
That decision has hardly left him hurting for money. He's made as much as $10 million a movie so far, and has a lucrative deal for his Maysville Pictures, where Robert Lawrence runs the feature side and Pam Williams the television component, which has a deal with CBS.
Clooney is currently filming the gritty Gulf War pic "Three Kings" with Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube for director David Russell and WB and is eyeing several possibilities for his next film.
Maysville has numerous films in development, and the TV arm is likewise quite busy. Among the TV side's plans are a remake of the 1964 Sidney Lumet pic "Fail Safe" as a CBS telepic which will be done live and in black & white. The Walon Green-scripted series "Blood Brothers" also looms large in CBS' fall plans, as well as "Kilroy," a series project Clooneywrote which is about to be set up at a network. He's also sold to CBS a telepic based on CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and his decision to rally against the communist witchhunt of Sen. Joe McCarthy.
His "ER" castmates will miss him, but the fact that his Maysville office is about 50 feet away from the "ER" soundstage mean it's likely he'll still take part in their pickup basketball games, and the February episode won't be the last time he dons surgical scrubs.
