George Clooney to Direct Spy Series 'The Department' for Showtime

News of the project follows Showtime’s announcement that it will also seek to expand universes of some of its other series.

George Clooney and Tiffany Boone on the set of Netflix's 'The Midnight Sky.'

Over the course of his long and successful career, Argo,' the latter of which he produced.

For his next project, per Grant Heslov, his longtime partner at Smokehouse Pictures.

Showtime, which recently made news when it was announced the longtime cable network and standalone streaming platform would be incorporated as a branded shingle under Paramount+, has staked a significant part of its new identity to the project, rewarding it with a full straight-to-series order.

While spy thrillers are a dime a dozen in the entertainment realm, both the pedigree and focus of 'The Department' seem likely to give it a boost, and considerable differentiation from other works in development in the same genre.

Producer Grant Heslov, Felicity Jones, Tiffany Boone and Director George Clooney on the set of 'The Midnight Sky.'

Dating back to his work alongside Steven Soderbergh on the short-lived but high-profile 2003 HBO series 'K Street,' Clooney has long been interested more in the corridors of power — and their intersection with macro policy issues, political decisions and international consequences — rather than just action for action’s sake.

Focusing on special division responsible for training deep-cover secret agents embedding sometimes for years at a time, 'The Department' looks likely to continue to mine that seam of personal fascination.

Helping provide a frame and roap will be an award-winning source of adaptation: the French series 'The Bureau,' which debuted in 2015 and has run for five seasons.

Created by Eric Rochant, that show centers on the daily lives and missions of government staffers within 's chief external security service, focusing on the agency’s so-called “Bureau of Legends,” who help identify and recruit valuable intelligence sources. It’s anticipated that 'The Department' will further contemporize this subject matter, as well as make it particular to the United States.

(L to R) George Clooney and Julia Roberts in Universal Pictures' 'Ticket to Paradise.'

While he costarred alongside Joel Edgerton.

Meanwhile, if 'The Department' proves successful, it could easily provide roots for Showtime — which previously enjoyed great results with another espionage series adapted from an international property, 'Homeland' — to set up other projects.

In a recent interview with the Yellowstone' and its assorted spin-offs.

In addition to a Miami-set 'Dexter' prequel series that will explore the title character’s origins against the backdrop of real-life serial killers of the time, Showtime has potentially up to four 'Billions' spin-offs in the works, including 'Millions,' about hungry, up-and-coming financial market movers and shakers, and 'Trillions,' about the rapacious competitive instincts of the ultra-wealthy.

Might this branded Showtime universe-building, if it works, even mean some type of secret spin-off for Twin Peaks,' which enjoyed a ballyhooed return engagement on the network with 2017’s 'Twin Peaks: The Return?' Stay tuned, stranger things have happened.