It turns out that Oliver Stone is set to make a film about Edward Snowden. Stone’s film is based on a book The Snowden Files by Guardian reporter Luke Harding. Stone is a fan of Snowden so the film will likely be sympathetic to him.
“To me, Snowden is a hero,” Stone said in July of last year. “He revealed secrets that we should all know, that the United States has repeatedly violated the fourth amendment.”
This is not the only film in the works. Another film is being made by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the producers of the James Bond franchise and will be based on Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide and this too should be sympathetic to Snowden.
“Glenn Greenwald’s No Place To Hide
It will be interesting to see if the government tries to get a filmmaker to put out a film that is sympathetic to its point of view, the way they did with Zero Dark Thirty. They may think it is better to lie low on this one, since it would be really hard to portray James Clapper, Keith Alexander, or Michael Hayden in a heroic light.
I hope that Snowden gets some money from these ventures. Although he seems to be unconcerned about living an austere life, it would be nice for him to have some income.
I can hardly wait to see the cast lists.
Oliver Stone threw his credibility out the window with JFK. He should just stick to fiction, anything he says about Snowden will just give ammo to the right-wing know-nothings.
This will likely be an independent movie. Hollywood studios pander to (read: alter their scripts, kiss their behinds) the US military, CIA and others so that military weaponry and other resources are available for filming. And since the US military means the US government, you can be sure there will be coercion: “Make that film, and your studio won’t get our stuff anymore.” It’s no different than so-called “reporters” who are “embedded”.
The few movies which genuinely are critical of the US are story driven, not action movies. The willingness to support propaganda and refusal to assist in cricism amounts to censorship. This is not a private entity with the right to pick and choose, this is government engaged in selective displays of imagery and a refusal to tell the truth.
http://zeroanthropology.net/2010/06/13/militainment-u-s-military-propaganda-in-the-news-media-hollywood-and-video-games/
“Black Hawk Down” is infamous for its removal of any mention of John Stebbins from real events. Why admit to the world that one on the US’s “heroes” raped his own daughter and is spending decades in prison when you can pretend he doesn’t exist?
How many movies about Flight MH370 are in the pipeline?