George Clooney Directing Coming-Of-Age Film 'The Tender Bar' For Amazon

Two-time Oscar winner George Clooney is in talks to direct and possibly produce a film adaptation of the coming-of-age story “The Tender Bar” for Amazon Studios, Deadline reports.

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The film would adapt the book of the same name by J.R. Moehringer, which was previously set up at Sony Pictures, which had been developing the film with “Hidden Figures” director Ted Melfi in mind before Amazon and former executive Ted Hope snooped in and acquired the project.

The story centers on an author, who as a young boy seeks out a replacement for his father, a New York City DJ who vanished before his son spoke his first word. After the boy stops finding his father’s voice on the radio, he finds friendship at the nearby bar in the form of his Uncle Charlie and other adults who take the boy into their circle. The book is based on Moehringer’s own experiences growing up.

“The Tender Bar” will be Clooney’s first directorial feature gig since the box office bomb “Suburbicon” which was the first time Clooney directed a movie he did not star in. It is still early to tell whether Clooney will have a role in “The Tender Bar,” but its subject matter makes it an interesting choice for Clooney, and a big departure from his previous directorial efforts.

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Clooney was reportedly considering MGM’s project “Boys in the Boat,” an adaptation of the Daniel James Brown book about the University of Washington rowing team that won a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics. Deadline reports that, though he is still attached to it, Clooney “felt the timing wasn’t right given the complexity of shooting such a film in the backdrop of a pandemic” and decided to take on “The Tender Bar” instead.