20th Century Fox has begun early talks with George Clooney to helm there next sci-fi thriller, Echo.

It may be early days, but Fox are confident that negotiations with Clooney are just a formality. The Conspiracy’s Christopher MacBride has penned the script. It is said to be an original thriller with a sci-fi edge in which a drone specialist has a psychological crisis: is he paranoid in suspecting his lover is not who she appears to be, and could she possibly have been replaced?

The film is to be produced by 21 Laps’ Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Dan Cohen. Whether Clooney is set to star in the thriller is anybody’s guess at this point, but watch this space.

Also in the news – Will Ferrell to team up with Netflix for Eurovision inspired movie

The sci-fi production could a complete change of route for Clooney, who had made a success at directing a few dramadys along the way. He made his directorial debut back in 2002 with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind in which he starred alongside, Sam Rockwell and Drew Barrymore. He has since gone on to direct films such as The Ides of March and Suburbicon. He has also directed a couple of episodes for the 2019 series Catch-22. He initially intended to star in the Joseph Heller adaptation, but subsequently replaced himself with Kyle Chandler.

Clooney hasn’t appeared in front of the camera since his 2016 film Money Monsters but continues to be the face of Nespresso in their gloriously arty coffee adverts.