Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Photo by cinemafestival/Shutterstock.com
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden in an upcoming movie to be directed by Oliver Stone.
According to a report in The Guardian, the film will be based on two books, The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man by Luke Harding and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena, with two-time Academy Award-winner Stone set to helm the project.
Since first gaining attention as a child star in the Nineties TV sitcom 3rd Rock From the Sun, Levitt has established himself as one of the movie industry’s most prominent actors, appearing in Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, Lincoln and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For in the past few years. He also made his directorial debut with Don Jon last year.
The currently untitled Snowden film follows Laura Poitras’ recently released documentary Citizen Four, which captured how Snowden leaked the secret NSA documents.
Due to go into production in Munich in January, the latest Snowden film is being produced by independent studio Open Road Films and production and financing company Endgame Entertainment.
According to producer Moritz Borman, the filmmakers have decided to make the piece outside of the Hollywood system because “this film needs an independent in the true sense, where political pressures will not come into play”.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt image by Shutterstock
