GEORGE CLOONEY - CLOONEY: 'MAINSTREAM FILMS PAY FOR ART FILMS'

Movie hunk GEORGE CLOONEY likes to switch his movie output between blockbusters and smaller art films - because the mainstream hits finance his more adventurous projects.

The INTOLERABLE CRUELTY star formed a production company with director pal STEVEN SODERBERGH in 2000 to enable them to shoot smaller-scale movies which "aren't so easy to sell".

The film-making duo have already put their method into practice - they used the money from blockbuster OCEAN'S ELEVEN to pay for last year's (02) flop SOLARIS, and now they're set to do it again.

George says, "We'll give them OCEAN'S TWELVE, but it's one for the masses, so we can go on to do a couple that aren't so easy to sell."