Oliver Stone to Write, Direct Snowden Movie

After tackling issues including the Vietnam War, the assassination of JFK, and the presidency of George W. Bush, Oliver Stone says he's taking on another of the "greatest stories of our time": Edward Snowden's National Security Agency whistleblowing. Stone will write and direct an adaptation of Guardian journalist Luke Harding's The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man, with Harding and other journalists working as production and story consultants. Stone, who has previously described Snowden as a hero, says making the film is a "real challenge."

The New York Times described Harding's book as "a fast-paced, almost novelistic narrative that is part bildungsroman and part cinematic thriller," and filming is likely to begin before the end of the year, reports Variety. But Stone's film will have some serious competition, the AP notes. Sony Pictures has bought the rights to former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald's No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the US Surveillance State and signed up James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for the project. (More Oliver Stone stories.)