Matt Damon in Liberace in New HBO Film as Liberace’s Lover, Michael Douglas as Liberace

Well, this should be very interesting.

It appears Matt Damon has signed on for a new HBO film that centers on the life of late singer Liberace. HBO house fare is often incredibly well done, so in and of itself, the film is likely to be fantastic solely for that reason. But as HBO tends to, a compelling cast seems to be in the works for the project as well.

Damon has long been rumored to play the lover of the late Las Vegas staple entertainer, with actor Michael Douglas on board as Liberace himself. The product has been in development hell for many years, with citations on the web dating back several years chronicling the genesis of the HBO Liberace biopic.

But the film is now confirmed. It has a title- Beyond the Candelabra, which may or may not be tongue-in-cheek and to be fair, HBO could carry it off either way- as well as a director, Steven Soderbergh. This marks the first time Soderbergh has worked with both Damon and Douglas in the same film, but the director has done Traffic with Douglas, and Contagion, The Informant, and the Ocean’s series of films with Damon.

Producer Jerry Weintraub commented on the lining up of cast and HBO for Behind the Candelabra:

“I’ve wanted to make a film about Liberace for a very long time, and after the amazing experience I had with HBO on His Way, I knew that they were absolutely the right place for this movie,” he said. “I am thrilled that we have the incomparable Michael Douglas to inhabit the role of Liberace, as well as the exceptional Matt Damon to play the pivotal part of Scott Thorson. Putting these two fine actors in the creative hands of Steven Soderberg — it doesn’t get better than that.”

Filming will kick off next summer in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Palm Springs.