Ryan Gosling In Talks To Play The Lead In George Clooney's 'Farragut North'

While Chris Pine looked like he might be scoring the lead role of a young communications director who works for a fast-rising presidential candidate in George Clooney's upcoming directorial effort "Farragut North," it looks like Ryan Gosling is now negotiating to get the gig, according to Deadline.

A role once sought by Leonardo DiCaprio (the project has been gestating for at least two years), Deadline makes no mention of previously discussed actors vying or offered parts such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei. And perhaps it's because those talks haven't turned into any kind of concrete negotiations yet, who knows.

Optioned by Warner Bros. in 2008, the film is an adaptation of a political play by Beau Willimon. It is loosely based on the 2004 Democratic primary run of Howard Dean, and "the story is set in Des Moines, Iowa, just weeks before the state’s Democratic caucuses officially commence; it follows the exploits of a twenty-something presidential campaign spinmeister/wunderkind named Stephen Myers, and the dirty pool he plays to get his candidate the nomination against a rival senator."

WB doesn't sound involved anymore. Clooney is shepherding the project through his Smoke House Productions banner with partner Grant Heslov (the director of "Men Who Stare At Goats"), which is now set up at Sony, and while no distributor has been named (nor financiers), they could be a potential contender.