George Clooney Has Backed Out of Tom Ford's Second Film

George Clooney ends film partnership with Tom Ford.

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Complex Original

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Earlier this year, American fashion designer Tom Ford announced he was in the early stages of his second film project—a noir thriller titled Nocturnal Animals. Not too long after the announcement, reports began circulating that George Clooney was set to produce the movie with his Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov. But it looks like that’s no longer the case.

According to Page Six, Clooney has recently backed out of the project, forcing Ford to meet with international distributors at the Cannes Film Festival to secure funding. So what the hell happened?

A source explained to Page Six that “Ford is in Cannes because George Clooney was to produce the movie […] But they had a huge falling out over creative issues a few weeks ago, and Clooney is no longer involved.”

However, the 54-year-old actor has denied any kind of disagreement with Ford, and insisted it was merely a scheduling conflict.

“No falling out at all,” Clooney told the publication. “Grant and I love the project and think Tom is fantastic. We just couldn’t do it when he needed to go.”

Ford and his reps have yet to comment.

Actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams have already signed on to play the lead roles in the movie, so here’s hoping a deal gets secured soon.

Update: Ford’s efforts have paid off.

According to a Sunday report by Deadline, Focus Features has secured the rights to Nocturnal Animals for $20 million—marking the largest deal at this year’s Cannes Film Festival so far.

It was also announced that Universal Pictures will help distribute the film overseas. 

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