Screen Junkies » Assange

It’s Official: All Movies In Development Are Assange-Based

Penn Collins — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:46:50 +0000

Feeling a little left out of the flurry of studio activity taking place over the Julian Assange story, HBO has thrown their hat into the the ring as well, announcing that they’re working to develop a movie about Assange based on Raffi Khatchadourian’s New York Times article. First it was asteroid movies, then it was vampire movies, now it’s all things Assange. Don’t be surprised if this treatment has an anthropomorphic dog or something just to differentiate itself.

Yesterday, this news broke about the option on Assange’s bio, The Most Dangerous Man in the World. This morning, it was announced that honored documentary director Alex Gibney had signed on to do a doc that will be run through Universal. What’s next? Expect Starz to run Julian Assange: Origins sometime this fall. It will surprisingly reveal that Assange is Bill Maher’s thinner, cooler brother.

HBO most recently tackled controversial Jack Kevorkian in You Don’t Know Jack, so controversial figures are nothing new to HBO, but look for the lower-budget project to beat both the documentary and the biopic to audiences. This competition begs the question: Which film will pick up Best Picture at this year’s Assangies? (Deadline)

“Assange Biopic Underway,” Says Screen Junkies In A Confidential Cable

Penn Collins — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:22:33 +0000

Look out Chilean miners, there’s a new topical dramatization on the horizon! Relevance, thy name is Assange. The upcoming biography of Julian Assange (seen to the right looking like your mom’s holistic friend) has been optioned today to become a dramatic biopic.

The source material for the screenplay is The Most Dangerous Man in the World, Assange’s biography written by Andrew Fowler. The book is expected to be released later this year, but don’t expect studios to wait that long to start ramping up production.

In case you’re really, really, ignorant, Julian Assange is the founder of Wikileaks and is currently awaiting extradition in Britain for a sexual assault case in Sweden, then from there he will embark on a global tour and get prosecuted by every sovereign government on the planet for high treason.

Unsurprisingly, the feature is being touted as a “thriller” by studios Josephson Entertainment and Michelle Krumm Productions. The story of the disavowed Wikileaks founder is already knee-deep in espionage lore, so creating a thrilling film shouldn’t take too many gymnastics. Look for the movie to be released at some point during Assange’s lifelong incarceration. (Variety)