MONUMENTS OF MEN (Cast News)

• MONUMENTS OF MEN

George Clooney has been quite the busy man, procuring quite the stellar cast for his latest film, Monuments Men.

George Clooney 

The story centers on a group of art experts selected by the U.S. Government to chase down the stolen art of Europe during World War II. 

Aside from the terrific premise, Clooney, who co-wrote the film with partner Grant Heslov, will star alongside a cast that includes Daniel Craig, Jean Dujardin, Bill Murray, and Cate Blanchett.  Dujardin, Murray, and Blanchett had previously been mentioned in connection with the film, and Craig is a strong addition along with other new cast members John Goodman, Bob Balaban, and Hugh Bonneville.

Jean Dujardin, Daniel Craig & Bill Murray

According to Deadline, filming is set to begin on March 1st, and Alexandre Desplat will be handling the score.  The rest of the crew from Argo will be on board as well.

Here’s the synopsis for the source material, Robert M. Edsel‘s non-fiction novel The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History:

At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuehrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy: “degenerate” works he despised.

In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Momuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture.

Cate Blanchett

Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world’s great art from the Nazis.