Showtime is teaming with George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures for a U.S. TV adaptation of the French political thriller series The Bureau, which Clooney will direct for the network.
Titled The Department, the project – which has received a straight-to-series order from Showtime – will revolve around a security agency tasked with recruiting, training and handling deep cover agents on long-term missions around the globe.
“The Department, based on the riveting and brilliant series ‘The Bureau,’ will follow in the great tradition of Homeland, one of the most successful and brand-defining shows at Showtime,” said Showtime’s president and CEO Chris McCarthy. “Just as Homeland elevated global espionage to new heights, The Department will take viewers even deeper into a world of intrigue and subterfuge with complicated characters who struggle with their own demons as they fight existential threats to the nation and the world.”
“We are delighted to extend The Bureau’s DNA through ‘The Department’ for Showtime with our friends at MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios,” said Alex Berger, president and executive producer at The Originals Productions, the company behind the original series, who will also executive produce the Showtime series. “The Originals Productions (TOP), Federation and Paramount are taking our franchise to the next level, making a new high-stake international espionage show set today in a very complex geopolitical environment.”
The Department will mark the latest small screen foray for Clooney and Smokehouse, who most recently starred, directed and executive produced Catch-22 for Hulu. Feature film-wise, Clooney was most recently seen alongside Julia Roberts in the rom-com Ticket to Paradise alongside Julia Roberts while his next directorial effort The Boys in the Boat is in post-production.
