Just yesterday it was announced that Steven Soderbergh had entered early negotiations to direct The Man From U.N.C.L.E., an adaptation of the 1960s television spy series that has been floating in the ether for the past 5 months. Whats more, it was also revealed that Scott Z. Burns, who worked with the director on The Informant! and the upcoming Contagion, would also be coming on board to do a complete rewrite of the script. But if you think that Soderbergh is done recruiting his friends for the project you're dead wrong.

The Playlist is reporting news from an unnamed source that George Clooney, star of six Soderbergh films in the last twelve years, has been in contact with the director about playing in the new film. The report also says that Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov has signed off on Soderberg's vision for the project, which would keep the film set during the Cold War. The director's schedule is currently jam packed - he's in the midst of filming Contagion and plans to make Liberace next summer/fall - and while the plan is currently to shoot the film in late 2011, the article says that 2012 is more likely.

While I've always enjoyed seeing Clooney and Soderbergh work together, they've always been a little more hit-or-miss than would be expected from such incredible talents. I love Out of Sight (one of my favorite Elmore Leonard adaptations) and Ocean's 11 is a more-than-solid heist flick, but then you have to remember The Good German and Ocean's 12, which balances the whole thing out. I really like the idea of Soderbergh taking the reigns of this project and, should Clooney come aboard, I hope it ends up on the plus side for both of them.