Clooney Hires Bridges, Spacey, and McGregor to 'Stare at Goats'

Around this time last year, George Clooney and his co-writer and producing partner Grant Heslov picked up the rights to The Men Who Stare at Goats. It's a weird title, no doubt, but what the title describes is even weirder. It's from a book by Guardian columnist Jon Ronson that deals with a desperate reporter finding the story of his dreams when he meets a former soldier in the U.S. Army who is reactivated after the War on Terror begins.

What's the big deal about that? The soldier claims to be part of a special Army program that trains soldiers to fight with their minds. They're "psychic soldiers."

This will be Heslov's first film as a director, and he and Clooney have handed the story over to Peter Straughan for screenwriting duties. And yes, Clooney will be one of the men who stares at goats, Lyn Cassady, the soldier the young reporter meets who introduces him to the unusual story. The Hollywood Reporter fills out the rest of the cast: Ewan McGregor will play reporter Bob Wilton, Kevin Spacey will play Larry Hooper, a former psychic soldier running an Iraqi prison camp, and Jeff Bridges has been announced as Bill Django, Cassady's mentor and the man responsible for the program.

It's not just because Burn After Reading is in theaters, but this has a pretty Coens-esque sensibility about it. I wish I'd read the book, but reading is so hard. And time consuming.

Shooting is expected to begin in October. IMDB has a 2010 release date, although if principal photography completes this year, that would seem a very long time to wait, unless they want to do a Sundance premiere or something.