George Clooney is set to take on the Nazis in a new movie about the art experts who rescued masterpieces stolen by Adolf Hitler in World War II.
The Hollywood actor will co-write, direct and star in The Monuments Men, about a group of art historians and curators who were picked by the U.S. government to retrieve pieces looted from European museums by Nazi thieves.
Clooney has yet to decide which role will be his - but he insists it will be a "fun" project because he's got a big budget to spend on the shoot.
He says, "Hitler was an art fanatic, and he stashed masterpieces everywhere. He hid 27 Rembrandts in a coffin... I'm excited about it. 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.
"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.'"
Clooney's movie is based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel.