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DreamWorks Snatches WikiLeaks Book for Julian Assange 'Thriller' Film

by Leila Brillson on March 3, 2011 at 11:20 AM

assangeThe era has come wherein movie makers are no longer content exploring shared cultural events, or mining moments in history for inspiration. Instead, they have started turning to stories that, in many ways, haven't even been finished. The award-winning film 'The Social Network' is about a website that we continue to use daily, and one that still occupies our headlines. And now DreamWorks, the studio co-founded by Steven Spielberg, has snatched up the rights to the books 'WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy' and 'Inside WikiLeaks.'

According to the Guardian, the movie will plot the story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, from his days in Australia to the site's inception in 2006. Editor-in-chief of the Guardian Alan Rusbridger, who was pivotal in releasing the leaked documents, has suggested that the film will be "Woodward and Bernstein meets Stieg Larsson meets Jason Bourne."

The DreamWorks film is among many slated for production, including a documentary helmed by the director of 'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.'

Of course, the subject of the film is still evolving. Assange has recently been extradited to Sweden on sexual assault charges, and the unrest in the Middle East -- which, some suggest, WikiLeaks' leaked cables helped to set in motion -- is still playing out. The story of WikiLeaks is certainly far from over, but its undeniable global impact is ripe for Hollywood's dramatic picking. An idea: Fresh off his win from 'The King's Speech,' Colin Firth might make a great Assange, no?

Tags: dreamworks, guardian, JulianAssange, movies, top, web, Wikileaks, WikileaksMovie

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