George Clooney to direct film on British phone hacking scandal
- 10 years ago
Actor-filmmaker George Clooney will direct a movie about the phone hacking scandal that ensnared some of Britain's biggest media figures and politicians.
"Hack Attack" is based on the 2014 book of the same name by journalist Nick Davies, who details how British newspapers hacked the telephone voice mails of celebrities, members of the royal family and crime victims to gain private information.
The phone hacking scandal led media mogul Rupert Murdoch to close the News of the World newspaper in 2011 and abandon a 12 billion dollar bid (USD) bid for British pay TV broadcaster BSkyB following a public and political furor, and an exodus of advertisers.
The scandal resulted in arrests of top British editors and reached Prime Minister David Cameron, whose media chief Andy Coulson was forced to resign in 2011 over phone hacking when he was News of the World editor.
Production on the film is scheduled to start next year, the Sony Corp-owned film studio said.
"Hack Attack" is based on the 2014 book of the same name by journalist Nick Davies, who details how British newspapers hacked the telephone voice mails of celebrities, members of the royal family and crime victims to gain private information.
The phone hacking scandal led media mogul Rupert Murdoch to close the News of the World newspaper in 2011 and abandon a 12 billion dollar bid (USD) bid for British pay TV broadcaster BSkyB following a public and political furor, and an exodus of advertisers.
The scandal resulted in arrests of top British editors and reached Prime Minister David Cameron, whose media chief Andy Coulson was forced to resign in 2011 over phone hacking when he was News of the World editor.
Production on the film is scheduled to start next year, the Sony Corp-owned film studio said.