EXCLUSIVE: Smokehouse Pictures partners George Clooney and Grant Heslov have signed an overall film deal with the Warner Bros. Pictures Group and its Co-Chairs and CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. It amounts to a homecoming for the filmmakers, who named their company for the Smoke House steak joint right off the Warner Bros lot, where they used to eat all the time. Clooney’s history with the studio goes back to his breakthrough starring role in the Warner Bros Television drama ER. They made their first deal at Warner Bros when they formed Smokehouse in 2006.
The duo told those who attended with them during a Q&A session at last Friday night’s screening of All The President’s Men that is part of a monthly screening series of WB classics set up by De Luca & Abdy. Clooney and Heslov will return to offices on the lot — one of the few pictures Clooney had on the wall that I observed was him in the Batman mask, as he didn’t like the fit and wanted to remind himself to not take jobs just because of the money and commercial rewards. The intention now is for Clooney and Heslov to become cornerstone filmmakers for the studio.
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Under the terms of the deal, WBPG and SmokeHouse can jointly develop original material as well as partner on projects based on current IP and archive titles from Warner Bros. Discovery’s extensive library.
Their bonds with De Luca and Abdy strengthened when they worked closely together at MGM on the Clooney-directed drama The Boys in the Boat, before the execs moved to Warner Bros.
“We’re thrilled to welcome George, Grant and the Smokehouse team back to Warner Bros.,” said De Luca and Abdy. “Grant and George are accomplished and respected filmmakers whose rich history with the Studio includes the Oscar-winning Argo, among many popular and acclaimed titles. They have great instincts and sensibilities as filmmakers, and we’re excited to partner with them in this new era.”
Smokehouse in February made a TV deal with 101 Studios.
On the film front, Smokehouse has produced a number of high-profile film and TV projects at Warner Bros. That includes the 2013 Best Picture-winning Argo as well as Good Night, and Good Luck, Ocean’s 8, Our Brand is Crisis and the HBO films O.G. and The Art of Political Murder. The company has also produced such films as The Tender Bar, Ticket to Paradise, The American, August: Osage County, Leatherheads, Catch-22, The Ides of March, Money Monster and Suburbicon.
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