George Clooney, Josh Brolin Sign On To Coen Brothers' Latest, 'Hail Caesar'

Acclaimed writing and directing partners Joel and Ethan Coen are set to team up again with Josh Brolin and George Clooney for “Hail, Caesar,” the siblings' latest film.

“Hail, Caesar,” a comical period piece, focuses on a 1950s Hollywood “fixer,” Eddie Mannix, whose job it was to protect movie stars’ reputations from sordid scandals and tabloid insinuations. Clooney is set to star as Mannix, while Brolin will appear in an as-yet-undisclosed role (perhaps a movie star?), Deadline said Monday. On the same day, Universal Pictures announced it had picked up “Hail, Caesar” for worldwide distribution.

It's unclear if or how “Hail, Caesar” will relate to the real-life MGM executive, Eddie Mannix, who has been linked to the mysterious death of Superman actor George Reeves. Reeves had long been involved with Mannix’s wife, though Mannix didn’t have a problem with that. He had a problem when Reeves ended the affair and broke his wife’s heart. Reeves’ death by gunshot was ruled a suicide, but many believe that Mannix was the gunman.

Brolin previously worked with the Coen Brothers on their Oscar-winning 2007 drama “No Country for Old Men” and “True Grit,” while Clooney has starred in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Intolerable Cruelty” and “Burn After Reading.” Brolin is also attached to portray the cosmic villain Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while the Coen Brothers are set to pen a script for a Stephen Spielberg-directed feature about a spy exchange during the 1960s.

Clooney’s casting in “Hail, Caesar” isn’t the only good news the actor has received this week. His production company, Smokehouse Pictures, signed a two-year deal with Sony Pictures Television to create comedy and drama series for both broadcast and cable networks, Variety reports. The deal will be Smokehouse’s first move into television after producing feature films like “Argo,” “The American” and “August: Osage County.”