George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio are teaming up to star in a film based loosely on the rise and fall of U.S. presidential hopeful Howard Dean.

The movie will be adapted from a play written by Beau Willimon, former assistant on the Dean campaign, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Actor George Clooney, seen here at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, will direct and produce Farragut North, a film loosely based on the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean.
(Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

Clooney will direct DiCaprio in Farragut North — named after the Washington D.C. metro station located near many lobbyists' offices. Clooney is also expected to appear in the film.

The two stars, known for their active political lives, will produce the film.

At the same time, the play — to be directed by Mike Nichols — is slated to open on Broadway in fall 2008, just before the presidential election.

The story centres on a young communications director who works for an unorthodox presidential candidate.

During the campaign, the candidate's career is bulldozed by the Washington political elite, seasoned on dirty tricks and back-stabbing.

Dean was the former governor of Vermont whose anti-war message and grassroots appeal attracted a large following in the run-up to the 2004 election.

He was an early frontrunner in the Democratic presidential nomination but experienced a spectacular downfall at the Iowa caucuses, placing third behind John Kerry and John Edwards.

His defiant response to this defeat, recorded on video and distributed on the internet, was the infamous "Yeah!" roar, which has since been considered the final nail in the coffin of his challenge.

Clooney is currently appearing in the corporate thriller Michael Clayton while DiCaprio is filming Ridley Scott's Iraq War suspense, Body of Lies.