Tom Ford Teams With George Clooney for Thriller 'Nocturnal Animals' (Exclusive)

Ford will be sitting behind the camera for the first time since 2009's 'A Single Man.'

Fashion designer Tom Ford may be sitting down behind the camera for the first time since 2009’s A Single Man, and this time he is teaming up with George Clooney.

Ford is attached to direct Nocturnal Animals, the adaptation of an Austin Wright book titled Tony and Susan. Ford wrote the script for the postmodern noir thriller and will direct while Clooney will produce with his Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov.

Wright’s book was initially published in 1993 and tells of a woman named Susan who receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband, a man whom she left 20 years earlier, asking for her opinion.

The book then tracks two stories: the story in the novel, titled Nocturnal Animals, which tells of a man whose family vacation turns violent and deadly; and the story of Susan, who finds herself recalling her first marriage and confronting some dark truths about herself.

The project is in the early stages but it’s already attracting plenty of attention in the acting community. And why not?

Ford was the designer who turned around the fortunes of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent before opening his own eponymous luxury label. His love for cinema pushed him into film, and he co-wrote, directed and was a producer on A Single Man. Ford received Indie Spirit nominations for best screenplay and best first feature, and the film won movie of the year at the AFI Awards. Star Colin Firth also went on to garner an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

The project is not set up at a studio, but Smokehouse does have a first-look deal with Sony.

Ford is repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham.

Smokehouse had no comment.