Steven Soderbergh is set to produce and potentially direct a movie based on the Panama Papers scandal.
The Panama Papers made headlines earlier this year (16) when millions of files from the database of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca were leaked online, exposing the financial records of many public figures and revealing how clients could use the company to evade taxes by setting up offshore accounts.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Bernstein, who was part of the investigative team working to expose the papers, is writing an upcoming book about the scandal called Secrecy World, and the screen rights have been acquired by producer Lawrence Grey’s company Grey Matter Productions.
The script, based on the book, will be written by Scott Z. Burns, according to Deadline.com. The screenwriter has worked with Steven a number of times on movies including Contagion, The Informant! and Side Effects.
This isn't the first time Steven has produced a movie about a real-life scandal - he was also executive producer on the Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour, about Edward Snowden, the man who leaked classified documents about the surveillance activities of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).
Besides producing, it is thought Steven may direct the feature as well. He had said he would be retiring from helming feature films after the release of Side Effects and Behind the Candelabra in 2013, and headed to TV to direct two 10-episode seasons of medical drama The Knick. He has since stepped away from that project too.
However, Steven has already come out of retirement to work on heist comedy Logan Lucky, which features an all-star cast including Channing Tatum, Daniel Craig, Katherine Heigl, Adam Driver, Seth MacFarlane, and Hilary Swank. He also has TV movie Mosaic, which stars Garrett Hedlund and Sharon Stone, in the works.
A number of celebrities were linked to the Panama Papers scandal, including Jackie Chan, director Pedro Almodovar and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. Most of them came forward to deny any wrongdoing.
