DreamWorks studio, which optioned two Guardian journalists’ book about the WikiLeaks saga, is looking to cast the star of The Bourne Legacy as the outspoken activist Julian Assange, the man Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger once described as “a compelling character who goes beyond what any Hollywood scriptwriter would dare to invent”, may be played by Jeremy Renner in DreamWorks’ planned movie version about the inside story of WikiLeaks.
Renner, who is gearing up for the release of The Bourne Legacy the latest instalment in the spy franchise made famous by Matt Damon is “looking hard” at playing the outspoken activist, according to the Deadline blog. Bill Condon, the man behind Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn parts one and two, is rumoured to be lined up as director.
DreamWorks’ WikiLeaks movie will span the events covered by Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding’s book, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy, as well as Daniel Domscheit-Berg’s expos Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website. Both books were optioned by the studio last year.
Assange, who lost the last of his appeals against extradition to Sweden to face sex crime accusations last month, has requested political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. His lawyer has argued that his client would not receive a fair trial if forced to return to Sweden.
The WikiLeaks film is thought to be pitched somewhere between The Social Network and All the President’s Men, and is one of a number of mooted projects about Assange doing the rounds. Others include a TV movie, in which Anthony LaPaglia plays a cop tracking the young Assange as he embarks on his early career as a hacker in Melbourne, and a fictional account of the activist’s adventures in internet dating, by Khodorkovsky director Cyril Tuschi.
