DiCaprio Eyes Producing Edward Snowden Film

Screen Daily reports that actor Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way is in the lead to nab the film rights to fugitive whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald broke the original news story in The Guardian newspaper and is now writing a book about Snowden and the NSA. He says "there have been negotiations" with an unnamed company for the rights, but the deal is not closed.

Snowden was a US computer specialist and former Central Intelligence Agency and NSA employee. He disclosed classified details to The Guardian in an effort to expose the actions of the Nsa, the government agency which had been collecting the telephone records of millions of Verizon customers under a top secret court order.

Snowden was subsequently charged with espionage by the US government, prompting him to flee to Hong Kong and then Russia where he has been granted temporary asylum. Shortly after the story's publication, The Guardian had to destroy computer hard drives containing copies of some of the secret files leaked by Snowden after a threat of legal action by the UK Government.

It also being reported that at least one US film executive has met with The Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger to discuss a potential film. Greenwald's new book is due for release in March.

It's unclear what facets of the case the film will cover, or if DiCaprio will star in the pic or just produce.