AMC develops George Clooney movie Good Night, and Good Luck for TV

AMC Networks in the US has moved into formal development on a TV adaptation of the 2005 feature film Good Night, and Good Luck, which was directed and co-written by US actor George Clooney.

George Clooney (photo: White House/Pete Souza via CC)

AMC Networks confirmed on Thursday that it has opened a writers’ room to develop a serialised version of the historical drama film for AMC and AMC+.

The series adaptation, which has not received a greenlight, was brought to the cable network by Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures alongside the original producers of the film Participant and 2929 Productions.

If the project is eventually ordered to series, AMC Studios would produce the six-episode series with Smokehouse, Participant and 2929 Productions. AMC Networks holds exclusive worldwide rights to the TV adaptation.

The script and writers’ room is being led by Jonathan Glatzer (Better Call Saul, Succession), who also serves as showrunner and as an executive producer alongside Clooney and Heslov. Other exec producers include Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner and Haley Jones for 2929 Productions and Jeff Skoll and Miura Kite for Participant. Rebecca Arzoian is co-executive producer for Smokehouse Pictures.

The series adaptation follows a young cameraman, Sy Steingartner, who is forced to juggle his admiration for Edward R Murrow, the real-life American broadcast journalist and war correspondent, with his own ambition. As things begin to change at the network they work for, Sy has an opportunity to rise straight to the top, but to do so he would need to betray his mentor.

“As a massive fan of the movie, I didn’t want to copy it, or just do a facsimile of it. So, we’ve expanded the world to show how the division and hysteria of the times seeped into every aspect of daily life,” said showrunner Glatzer.

“I suppose it’s more of an origin story of where we are today.”

Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks, added: “AMC is known for intriguing, deep-rooted characters that leap off the screen and into the cultural zeitgeist. Sy Steingartner fits right in with AMC’s icons, and we are excited to develop the character and series.”