Damon is in talks to join the starry cast ensemble of Clooney's period drama project, which will kick off filming in Europe early 2013.
- Dec 5, 2012
AceShowbiz - Yet another high-end actor is likely to join George Clooney's new project "The Monuments Men". Deadline shares the words that Matt Damon is currently in negotiations to star in the period drama, which Clooney plans to direct in Europe in January 2013.
Unfortunately, details of what character Damon will tackle remain unclear. Should the "We Bought a Zoo" actor close the deal, he will join a killer cast ensemble that include the likes of Daniel Craig, Jean Dujardin, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett and John Goodman.
Based on Robert M. Edsel's book "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History", the film will follow a group of art experts chosen by the U.S. government to find artwork stolen by the Nazis during the World War II era. Clooney will not only direct and star in it, but he will also serve as the writer and producer alongside Grant Heslov.
"It's a fun movie because it could be big entertainment. It's a big budget, you can't do it small, it's landing in Normandy," Clooney once said of his next project. "Grant and I have been trying to find a project. I'm not opposed to doing a commercial film, I'm just opposed to doing a commercial film that doesn't feel organic to me. So if we're going to do a commercial film we thought, 'Let's do something that seems fun and actually have something to say'."
The project will reunite Damon with Clooney after the two worked together in Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's" series as well as Stephen Gaghan's political thriller "Syriana". Damon himself will soon be seen in Gus Van Sant's drama "Promised Land", and later in Neill Blomkamp's sci-fier "Elysium".
