According to Variety, Steven Soderbergh's next project will be romantic thriller The Good German, a project Section Eight will produce for Warner Bros. Pictures.

The picture, which may be filmed in black and white, has a September start date.

German follows an American journalist who finds himself drawn into a murder mystery when he returns to post-WWII Berlin to search for his wartime mistress. Paul Attanasio adapted the screenplay.

Section Eight bought the film rights to Joseph Kanon's "The Good German" in February 2001, prior to its publication by Henry Holt that fall. At the time, it was purchased with the notion that Soderbergh's Section Eight partner, George Clooney, would take the leading role.

Instead, Clooney has just begun shooting his sophomore directing effort, Good Night and Good Luck, the Edward R. Murrow biopic that Section Eight is producing with 2929 Prods. and Participant Prods. Warners will release the title next spring.