22 September 2014
Newsdesk
Oliver Stone is reportedly eyeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt to play Edward Snowden in an upcoming biopic.
The filmmaker is helming a feature based on the story of the former NSA contract worker, who is currently seeking asylum in Russia after leaking thousands of classified documents to the media.
And he’s seriously considering the Inception star for the leading role, according to Deadline.
The outlet reports the project will begin shooting in Munich, Germany in December.
In June it was reported Oliver and his producing partner Moritz Borman acquired film rights to Time of The Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena, the Russian lawyer representing Edward Snowden.
The book tells the story of a fictional whistle blower named Joshua Cold, with several plot points strongly resembling his client’s story - one that Oliver describes as “chilling” and horrific.
"Anatoly has written a ‘grand inquisitor’-style Russian novel weighing the soul of his fictional whistle-blower, Joshua Cold, against the gravity of a 1984 tyranny that has achieved global proportions,” Oliver told The Hollywood Reporter at the time.
“His meditations on the meaning of totalitarian power in the 21st century make for a chilling, prescient horror story."
Anatoly described his inspiration for penning the novel after meeting with Edward, a polarising figure around the world.
“The more I engaged in the Edward Snowden case, the more I was impressed by his story. To understand Edward and his actions, I had to ‘tune to his wavelength’ and try to balance between the rational and intuitive perception of his world,” he explained. “Having experienced these incredible sensations, I realised that I had to write about them, but only in the form of a novel that would not claim any sophisticated philosophical conclusions."
Oliver and Moritz have also reportedly purchased film rights to The Snowden Files: The Inside Story Of The World’s Most Wanted Man, penned by by Guardian journalist Luke Harding, in order to flesh out the story.
A release date has yet to be announced.
