“CATCH-22”, CLOONEY’S MINI-SERIES FILMED IN ITALY

A US Air Force bombardier in World War II, Yossarian, is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. However, his real problem is the fact that because of rule Catch-22 he can’t dodge the ever-increasing number of missions he must fly to complete his service. According to Catch-22, in fact, a man can ask to avoid the assigned mission if he is insane, but a request to be removed from duty is evidence of sanity and therefore makes him ineligible to be relieved from duty.

The story of Yossarian will be told in the six-episodes mini-series entitled “Catch-22” co-directed by George Clooney, Ellen Kuras, and Grant Heslov. The series, based on Joseph Heller’s satirical novel of the same name, first published in 1961, will star Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Christopher Abbott, and Kyle Chandler, and it will air in 2019 on Hulu in the United States, on Sky Atlantic in Italy and on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Clooney, on top of being an interpreter, and director, will also function as executive producer with Grant Heslov, Luke Davies, David Michôd, Richard Brown, and Steve Golin. The series is co-produced by Paramount Television, Anonymous Content, Smokehouse Pictures, Sky Italia, and Channel 4, and it will be entirely filmed in Italy, between Sardinia and Rome.

Sky Italia executive vice-president, programming Andrea Scrosati added: “We are very proud that a project like Catch-22 – a story that has shaped the mindsets of entire generations and still continues to thrill them – is filmed almost entirely in Italy, which in recent years has been able to fully show its creative and production potential, even at an international level. We were the first to believe in such a potential and creative heritage that, also thanks to projects such as The Young Pope, are now recognized and appreciated abroad too.”