­To film or not to film: Hollywood to give up Assange movie idea?

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Published time: July 10, 2012 14:03
Edited time: July 10, 2012 18:03

Plans by a number of Hollywood studios to make a bio-pic of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange apprear to have been put on hold.

Film business heavyweights HBO, DreamWorks, Universal Pictures, the BBC and others have been purchasing the rights to the plethora of Assange biographies.

According to The Wall Street Journal, all of them faced the same problem – the story is not yet there to tell. Assange’s fate might well change depending on decisions made in the future.

"It's been tricky because there's so much of the story that's yet to be told," The Wall Street Journal quotes DreamWorks's President of Production Holly Bario as saying.

The outcome of Assange’s story depends on whether he will be granted asylum in Ecuador, and if not, will he be convicted for sexual assault in Sweden? Or will he be extradited to the US?

"We're still waiting to see what happens with Julian. If you're going to invest in this story, you've got to have a satisfying ending," Bario said.

An HBO spokesperson confirmed a WikiLeaks film is in development but did not reveal any other details.

Creative Artists Agency had plans to make a screen version of Assange’s autobiography, but Assange hasn’t finished it and the studio has called off the deal.