Steven Spielberg has bought the rights to a book on the WikiLeaks scandal which he intends to turn into a film.
Spielberg’s DreamWorks company paid for the rights to new book WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy, published by Guardian Books last month.
The book written by the book by Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding details Assange’s turbulent life, the creation of the WikiLeaks site in 2006 and the subsequent leaks of classified diplomatic documents.
Alan Rusbridger, The Guardian’s editor-in-chief said: “It’s Woodward and Bernstein meets Stieg Larsson meets Jason Bourne. Plus the odd moment of sheer farce and, in Julian Assange, a compelling character who goes beyond what any Hollywood scriptwriter would dare to invent.”
Film commentators have speculated that Spielberg will approach the drama as a political thriller.
Mike Fleming of Deadline Hollywood was quoted in The Guardian saying, “A good template for what they are thinking is The Social Network.”
Assange is currently appealing against an extradition order to Sweden to face accusations of sexual abuse.
But the big question is – who will play Assange? (Xavier Samuel would make a good “young” Assange.)
