George Clooney is one of the MEN WHO STARE AT GHOSTS

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Never heard of the phrase but apparently you can kill a goat by simply staring at it. I have never tried it myself but next time I'm face to face with a goat then I will most certainly give it a go. Variety say George Clooney will star in the odly titled Men Who Stare at Ghosts, a movie setup at his Smoke House Pictures with his producing partner Grant Heslov to direct as his first big budget feature.

Pic is an adaptation of British journalist Jon Ronson's book about the U.S. Army's First Earth Battalion, a unit that was to use paranormal powers. Title refers to the notion that one can kill a goat by staring at it. Financing and producing mix, which is still in flux, is expected to include Winchester, BBC Films and Mandate Pictures.

The project has been lying around for a few years now but has just caught some attention at Cannes. It's written by British scribe Peter Straughan (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Sixty Six) and was the top of the unproduced British screenplays of 2007. Now doesn't that sound cool?