George Clooney says he never expected his next project to be a miniseries based on a novel he read in high school.

But against his initial inclination, he's directing and starring in Hulu's series "Catch-22," drawn from Joseph Heller's classic work about the insanity of war. The streaming service Hulu will release it this spring.

Clooney said Monday that the longer format allowed them to develop the characters beyond what could be done in Mike Nichols' 1970 classic movie. Adopted at the time by opponents of the Vietnam War, he said the story making fun of the red tape and bureaucracy of war is relevant today and not tied to a particular conflict.

Series makers say the mixture of horror and hilarity becomes more pronounced as the series goes on.