Michael Fassbender is circling the lead role in George Clooney’s espionage thriller series The Department

The Killer and Prometheus star Michael Fassbender could go behind enemy lines for The Department, a forthcoming espionage thriller series with George Clooney (The Boys in the Boat) at the helm. With Clooney in the director’s chair, filming for The Department kicks off in London this spring. The project, which has a straight-to-series order by Showtime, is based on “The Bureau,” the hit French spy show created by Eric Rochant. In addition to his role as the project’s director, Clooney is producing alongside Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures, MTV Entertainment Studios, and 101 Studios.

The original French show starred the “bureau des légendes,” Matthieu Kassovitz as Guillaume Debailly — alias Paul Lefebvre, alias Malotru – a member of the “bureau des légendes,” the mythical powerhouse within the French Secret Service and its daredevil ghost agents. Malotru returns home after completing a six-year mission in Damascus. While struggling to retire his false identity and heated relationship with a Syrian woman, Malotru attempts to balance a double-agent game between the French Secret Services (DGSE) and the CIA.

Praised for exploring the psychology associated with covert agents and their ability to straddle double lives, The Bureau is known for keeping its finger on the pulse of geopolitical affairs, never shying away from hot-button topics or societal divides.

Michael Fassbender recently starred in David Fincher’s The Killer, focusing on an assassin who, after a near-miss, battles his employers and himself during an international manhunt. Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, and Kerry O’Malley star alongside Fassbender as primary cast members. After The Killer, Fassbender starred in Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, telling the story of the infamously terrible American Samoa soccer team, known for a brutal 2001 FIFA match they lost 31-0.

According to IMDB, Kung Fury 2 is in post-production, but I’ll believe it when I see a trailer. The sequel, starring Michael Fassbender, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alexandra Shipp, David Sandberg, David Hasselhoff, and more, focuses on Kung Fury’s universe with no real connection to the short movie other than the lead character.

What do you think about Michael Fassbender and George Clooney teaming up for The Department? Do you like it when Clooney directs, or would you rather see him in front of the camera? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.