Ellen Kuras is taking one of the most influential novels of the 20th century to the small screen. The Oscar nominee and Emmy winner has signed on to helm two episodes of Hulu’s upcoming “Catch-22” adaptation, Deadline reports. She’ll also serve as a producer on the six-episode limited series.
Published in 1961, Joseph Heller’s satirical novel is set during WWII. The story is told from multiple points of views, but focuses primarily on Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces bombardier. “Furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him,” Yossarian’s “real problem is not the enemy, but rather his own army which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service,” the source summarizes. “Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to avoid his military assignments, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule which specifies that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers which are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind; a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but a request to be removed from duty is evidence of sanity and therefore makes him ineligible to be relieved from duty.”
“Girls” alumnus Christopher Abbott will play the lead. George Clooney is among the project’s producers and will also helm two eps and co-star. “Catch 22” is a collaboration between Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smoke House Pictures, Paramount Television, and Anonymous Content.
A three-time winner of the Best Dramatic Cinematography Award at Sundance Film Festival, Kuras’ credits as a DP include “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Blow,” and “Personal Velocity.” She made her feature directorial debut with the “The Betrayal — Nerakhoon,” a 2008 Emmy-winning doc about a family forced to emigrate from Laos that was also nominated for an Oscar and Indie Spirit Award.
“Ellen is a pioneer in filmmaking. She has established a career that brings poignant stories to the screen seen through her unique lens and we are excited to have her direct two episodes of ‘Catch-22,’” said Amy Powell, President of Paramount Television and Steve Golin, founder and CEO of Anonymous Content.
Kuras is among the original female cinematographers in the American Society of Cinematographers. “I’m much more aware of the imbalance of male to female when I’m working on big studio movies,” she has said. “In the independent world, there’s a lot more diversity which makes for a more balanced crew.”
