Forget Santa Claus...George Clooney Is Coming To Town

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You know about the “list”, right?  It’s a list that married people keep detailing which celebrities they’re allowed to “stray” with should the opportunity ever present itself.  I feel sorry for all the men in town who have wives or girlfriends that put George Clooney on their “list”.  How many men laughed when their wife and/or girlfriend put Clooney on the list thinking, “Yeah, like you’ll ever have a chance to meet him?”

Well boys, the jokes on you.  Why?  Because according to AP, George Clooney is coming to town.  And not just for a quick drop-in like Will Smith did last month.  He’ll be in town for months to film the movie Up In The Air.  Lock up your wives (and daughters) St. Louis. 

He’ll be playing a coldhearted corporate downsizer on a quest to reach 1,000,000 frequent flier miles.  The film is directed by Jason Riteman, the man who brought us Juno.  Apparently a large chunk of the movie will be filmed in the recently closed Class D section of Lambert Airport.  That’s the third movie that’s been filmed at Lambert since they lost TWA.  Apparently there’s an upside to recession.  Who knew?  Of course, if Hollywood is looking for airports with light traffic, wait until the get a load of Mid America Airport.

The St. Louis Film Board estimates that the movie could have an economic impact of $50 million on the region.  (I’m assuming/hoping they mean $50 million to the good but you never know.  St. Louis can get pretty dumb when somebody famous shows up.)  I wonder how much of the $50 million will go to Cordell & Cordell after Clooney tears his way through this town’s women?  Of course, Clooney’s so cool most men would probably be honored if he slept with their wives.  It’s like getting the “Cool Guy Seal Of Approval” on your taste in ladies.

The film is listed on IMDB.com but it’s so new nobody’s even posted how much it will suck yet (which I thought was sort of an IMDB tradition.)  So our fare city will be treated to 5-months (or more) of George Clooney sightings.  One positive (but unintended) consequence of his visit is that it could result in a series decline in the number of McGraw Millhaven mentions in Deb Peterson’s column.  Imagine what would happen if McGraw Millhaven actually meets George Clooney?  Deb Peterson’s head might explode.