Dreamworks sets sights on Wikileaks film, options two books
After the success of THE SOCIAL NETWORK, several studios have been on the look out for current events topics that could make for interesting films. One such popular topic has been the Wikileaks story, which has continued to stay in the headlines due to the personal drama surrounding the site’s founder Julian Assange and the pending charges of sexual assault against him.
Hit the jump for the full story, including other films in the works about Wikileaks.
A series of films based on the Wikileaks events are already in production; Dreamworks has just picked up the film rights to two books that chronicle the Wikileaks story. The first, Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website, is an inside account of the site’s actions from the organization’s second in command. The second, Wikileaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy, is more of a current events book that details the actions and effects of the Wikileaks website.
Dreamworks is likely to combine these two stories into a narrative film along the lines of MARGIN CALL or ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN which details real world events with a narrative approach. In my mind, the Wikileaks story is ripe for film adaptation. It is, essentially, a story of one man’s radical mission to expose the secrets of the nations of the world. Few men have had this sort of power to support such a radical agenda, which means that Assange is one of the most important figures in the early 21st century.
Several other Wikileaks-inspired projects are in the works. Mark Boal, the screenwriter behind THE HURT LOCKER, is set to direct an optioned version of an article which appeared in The New York Times Magazine. Further, Assange has been commissioned to write his memoirs, the film rights for which have already been snatched up.
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