From one Italian-set genre flick to another…
No doubt getting good use of his Lake Como villa, George Clooney is set to make another film in Italy, this time in an effort a little more up our alley. The project is called MONSTER OF FLORENCE, based on the bestselling crime novel of the same name by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. Sounds like a real doozy, I suggest y’all take notes!
MONSTER OF FLORENCE, which will be adapted by Christopher McQuarrie (THE USUSAL SUSPECTS, THE WAY OF THE GUN) and Nathan Alexander (VALKYRIE), is the true story of a novelist and crime reporter who team up to solve a rash of grisly murders during the years 1974-1985. Here’s how Deadline describes the project:
Clooney will play Douglas Preston, who wrote the nonfiction bestseller The Monster of Florence with Italian crime reporter Mario Spezi. Preston is a thriller writer who met Spezi after moving to Italy. Together, they set out to solve a 30-year old serial murder case. Seven couples were savagely murdered between 1974 and 1985 while they sat in cars parked just outside Florence. The trail was cold when Preston moved into a nearby farmhouse and began asking questions. By that time, suspects had been let go, and authorities didn’t welcome the curiosity of the writer. They threw Spezi in jail and interrogated Preston. Finally, the sleuths began putting the pieces into place and solved the murder.
Sounds pretty damn cool, no? I wonder if Clooney will dig the script enough to wanna direct himself. Maybe he gets his boy Soderbergh or Grant Heslov to tackle the sumbitch…who knows.