Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been cast to portray exiled National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden in an upcoming biopic, according to a report by Variety.
The film's director Oliver Stone has not yet finalized negotiations with Gordon-Levitt but the two are said to be deeply interested in completing the project, says the Guardian, which first reported Snowden's revelations about the US government's mass surveillance.
The film, titled "The Snowden Files" and scheduled for production in early 2015, is based on two books.
One basis is the "The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man," which is the namesake of the movie. The book was written by Guardian journalist Luke Harding.
The other book the film rights for which Stone and his co-producer Moritz Borman acquired is the novel "Time of the Octopus."
Written by Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, the novel tells the story of an American leaker who is seeking asylum in Russia. The book details controversial conversations he has with his lawyer, according to Deadline.
"The Snowden Files" is set for a possible competition with another movie about Snowden, "No Place to Hide." It is also based on a book, similarly titled and written by freelance journalist Glenn Greenwald, whom Snowden had contacted to leak thousands of classified documents in June 2013.
"No Place to Hide" is being adapted for film by Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who produced James Bond films. "The Snowden Files" is projected to premiere first.
Gordon-Levitt just recently finished filming another biopic, Robert Zemeckis's "The Walk," where he plays French high-wire artist Philippe Petite, who is known for crossing the towers of the World Trade Center.
The actor, 33, is currently filming an as-yet untitled holiday film with Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie. He was last seen in the crime thriller "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For."