George Clooney to direct American remake of ‘Office of Legends’

Actor and director George Clooney will direct the American remake of Office of Legendsrenamed “The Department”, announced the American pay channel Showtime and the French producers of the original series. This “spy thriller will be anchored in the world of the American secret service and the recent geopolitical context, drawing heavily on the testimonies of former CIA agents”, specify in a press release the French co-producers TOP and Federation Studios at the origins of the fiction. Production is scheduled for 2023.

George Clooney will also be one of the co-producers of the series in the USA. “You couldn’t dream of a better poster than George Clooney and Showtime for the North American version of ‘Office of Legends'”, comments Guillaume Pommier, head of Federation in this press release. “The passion and ambition we share with them for this incredible series, coupled with Showtime’s firepower will work wonders to bring ‘The Department’ to international audiences,” he continues. No indication was given on the American distribution.

International success

The Canal+ star series has been sold in more than 100 countries and praised by the DGSE (French intelligence services, where the characters evolve) itself for its realism. French director Éric Rochant (“The Patriots”) was the “showrunner” (author-producer, in the jargon of the series) since the first broadcast in 2015. Before, for the finale of the 5th and last season in 2020, handing over to Jacques Audiard, director ofa prophet and Brothers Sisters.

This series followed in the footsteps of these undercover French agents abroad (the famous “legends”neat false identities) around a central character, Malotru, played by Mathieu Kassovitz.