Clooney Steals Into New Comedy

March 5 -- A-list hunk George Clooney didn't stay unattached for long after his proposed next film, the Gong Show comedy Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, was shelved.

The Perfect Storm star has lined up a supporting role in the comedy Welcome to Collinwood, which will also co-star Charlie's Angels' Sam Rockwell, as well as Isaiah Washington, Luis Guzman, and Jennifer Esposito.

It's being described in The Hollywood Reporter as a "Full Monty" type of comedy — but that, sadly, doesn't mean we'll be seeing Clooney bare all on-screen. It refers instead, to the "a bunch of working stiffs try a new line of work with comic results" element of that British hit. In this comedy, the game afoot is a pawn shop robbery. Clooney will play Jerzy, the safecracker who teaches the gang how to pull off the heist, and Rockwell will play a boxer who is the mastermind behind the job.

Coincidentally, Clooney is currently filming another caper flick, Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven.

Clooney and Soderbergh will produce Collinwood through their Section Eight company, which is based at Warner Bros., and filmmaking brothers Anthony and Joe Russo will direct from their own script.

Shooting is expected to begin later this month in Cleveland.