Hulu Orders Catch-22 Event Series From George Clooney

Hulu has given a series order to a six-part event series adaptation of Catch-22, which will be directed by and star George Clooney. The series will be based on the iconic 1961 novel by Joseph Heller. Clooney will appear as Colonel Cathcart and will both co-direct and co-executive produce the series with his Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov. Richard Brown and Steve Golin will also serve as EPs for Anonymous Content. Luke Davis and David Michôd are set as co-writers and executive producers.

The series is the story of the incomparable, artful dodger, Yossarian, a US Air Force bombardier in World War II who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy, but rather his own army which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to avoid his military assignments, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule 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.

“Catch-22 is a rare story that has withstood the test of time, not only as a literary masterpiece, but as a story that still resonates in today’s political and social conversation,” said Hulu chief content officer Joel Stillerman. “These are exactly the types of stories we want to be programming at Hulu, and we couldn’t be happier to partner with George Clooney, Paramount TV and this phenomenal group of creatives to bring one of the most well-known books of all time to viewers in a way that has never been seen before.”