Hugh Laurie has been cast alongside George Clooney in Hulu’s upcoming adaptation of “Catch-22.”
Laurie will play Major de Coverley, a squadron executive officer on Pianosa air base. A noble, leonine presence, like some Civil War general, de Coverley dances to the beat of his own drum. Regarded with awe by the men. He spends his time pitching horseshoes, listening to jazz on his phonograph, mixing himself martinis, and hiring apartments for the officers in every new city the Americans take.
Adapted from the 1961 Joseph Heller novel of the same name, the six-episode series is set in Italy during World War II. It tells the story of on Capt. John Yossarian, a U.S. Air Force bombardier who is furious because the bureaucratic rule known as Catch-22, which specifies that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers which are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind; a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but a request to be removed from duty is evidence of sanity and therefore makes him ineligible to be relieved from duty.
Clooney will star in the role of Colonel Cathcart. The Paramount TV series is being eyed for an early 2018 shoot. Clooney’s producing partner Grant Heslov will also direct a portion of the series. The episodes were co-written by Luke Davies and David Michôd, who will also executive produce. Richard Brown and Steve Golin will executive produce for Anonymous Content along with Clooney and Heslov through their Smokehouse Pictures banner.
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Laurie is represented by WME and Christian Hodell.
