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Before Matt Damon was The Talented Mr. Ripley, there was Alain Delon #book2movies

Clooney to write, direct and star in The Monuments Men

I just read at The Wrap that George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov are adapting the book The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel for Sony. Clooney will also direct and star in what is reportedly going to be a big budget movie.
I have to admit I don't read a lot of nonfiction and am not familiar with the book - the full title is “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History,” and it's about the men who chased down the art stolen by the Nazis during World War II.
“I’m excited about it,” Clooney told TheWrap at the Palm Springs Film Festival on Saturday. “It’s a fun movie because it could be big entertainment. It’s a big budget, you can’t do it small -- it’s landing in Normandy.”
 It will have several meaty roles for actors, though Clooney said it was too early to think about who might fill those roles.
“Grant and I have been trying to find a project,” Clooney said.
“I’m not opposed to doing a commercial film, I’m just opposed to doing a commercial film that doesn’t feel organic to me. So if we’re going to do a commercial film we thought, 'Let’s do something that seems fun and actually have something to say.'”
"Monuments” is an intrigue-filled tale of art theft and espionage in Europe during World War Two. Hitler systematically emptied the museums and private collections of Europe during World War II.
The book tells the tale of a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians – called the Monuments Men – who risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of this culture.
The book specifically follows the 11-month period between D-Day and V-E Day. The group worked behind enemy lines and were often unarmed.
I'm a little confused by Clooney's definition of "a fun movie" (Really?) but have to admit it does sound promising as a film. It's incredibly early in the development stages so don't look for this in theatres before 2013. Which leaves us all plenty of time to read the book, right?