George Clooney Returns to Director’s Chair for Political Series "The Department"

Showtime has given a straight-to-series order to the political thriller series “The Department” (Working Title) with George Clooney attached to direct.

The series is based on the acclaimed French espionage series “Le Bureau des Legendes”. 

Created by Eric Rochant, Le Bureau centers on the daily life and missions of agents within France’s principal external security service. It focuses on the “Bureau of Legends”, responsible for training and handling deep-cover agents on long-term missions in areas with French interests. Living under false identities for years, these agents’ missions are to identify and recruit good intelligence sources.

"Le Bureau Des Legendes" (The Bureau) is a Canal+ Creation Originale series produced by Top – The Originals Productions (Alex Berger, Eric Rochant) and Federation Studios (Pascal Breton).

"The Department" is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. It will be executive produced by Keith Cox and Nina L. Diaz of MTVE Studios; David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin and Bob Yari of 101 Studios (Yellowstone); Alex Berger for The Originals Productions; and Ashley Stern and Pascal Breton for Federation Studios/Federation Entertainment of America.

Principal photography is slated to begin sometime later this year.

Clooney made his directorial debut with the 2002 spy thriller "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and has since directed eight other projects. He recently directed the coming-of-age movie "The Tender Bar" and the yet-to-be-released drama movie "The Boys in the Boat".