A film about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden will be on the big screen soon. This has been confirmed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, who had recently purchased the film rights to a book regarding Snowden's revelations about the US government's elecronic surveillance. The New York Times said that the book "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the US Surveillance State" was penned by Pulitzer Prize winner and the Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald.
There is no doubt that Hollywood had taken interest in the events leading to and after the publication of documents that indicate the US' massive electronic spying of people's data. Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who had been known for their work on James Bond films "Skyfall" and "Quantum of Solace," are expected to breathe life into Greenwald's account of Snowden's life as a whistleblower for a film.
The Times said Sony is no stranger to bringing life to nonfiction stories in film at a timely fashion. The film production company had been responsible for the award-winning films "The Social Network," which is about Facebook and founder Mark Zuckerberg, and "Zero Dark Thirty," which tackled the US government's efforts in tracking and killing 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
As of Snowden, the former government contractor could not obviously be contacted for comment as he is still currently in hiding in Russia from US authorities, The Times said. Snowden reportedly had retained the services of a Washington lawyer last month to continue aiding him in reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors for leaking confidential state documents.
On the other hand, high-profile lawyer Plato Cacheris might consider Snowden's case his most challenging yet, as he has yet to work out on an agreement with government officials a year after he was hired. The Times said Cacheris was such a formidable lawyer that convicted spies Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and leaker Lawrence Franklin had hired him to help them in their respective cases.
