Warner Bros. Pictures is planning a theatrical re-release of Tony Gilroy’s drama Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney in the title role. The film will return to theatres on January 25 in approximately 1,000 locations in North America. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution.
Originally released in October 2007, Michael Clayton has been named to more than 100 critics’ top-ten lists. Among the film’s other distinguished honors, director/screenwriter Tony Gilroy has been recognized by his peers with Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America Awards nominations. Cast members Clooney, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton each received Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Most recently, the film’s producers were honored with a nomination for the Darryl F. Zanuck Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America. The film’s behind-the-scenes creative talent earned American Cinema Editors Award and Art Directors Guild Award nominations.
In addition, Michael Clayton garnered five BAFTA Award nominations, for Best Actor (Clooney), Best Supporting Actor (Tom Wilkinson), Best Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton), Best Screenplay (Gilroy) and Best Editing (John Gilroy). It also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Picture Drama, Best Actor (Clooney), Best Supporting Actor (Tom Wilkinson) and Best Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton). In addition, George Clooney won Best Actor Awards from several critics groups, including the National Board of Review.
In Michael Clayton, George Clooney stars in the title role of an in-house “fixer” at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. At the behest of the firm’s co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), Clayton, a former prosecutor from a family of cops, takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen’s dirtiest work. Clayton cleans up clients’ messes, handling anything from hit-and-runs and damaging stories in the press to shoplifting wives and crooked politicians. Though burned out and discontented in his job, Clayton is inextricably tied to the firm. At the agrochemical company U/North, the career of in-house chief counsel Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the settlement of the suit that Kenner, Bach & Ledeen is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. When the firm’s top litigator, the brilliant Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has an apparent breakdown and tries to sabotage the entire case, Marty Bach sends Michael Clayton to tackle this unprecedented disaster and, in doing so, Clayton comes face to face with the reality of who he has become.
