Updated Thursday, 5:30 Am, adding more context and information below.
Exclusive: How long is Sony Pictures going to silently endure this full-on assault, in which cyber-terrorists are using media outlets to deliver salvos of hacked private e-mails to embarrass and sabotage the regime of Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton?
Wednesday night was particularly bad. Tabloid-style reports hit both trades, focusing on hacked documents about a racially tinged e-mail exchange between Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin. In a lame attempt at humor, they speculated what films President Barack Obama might like, as they discussed an Obama fundraiser held by Jeffrey Katzenberg in 2013. All of the offerings they came up with were black-themed films.
Is it possible their track records for quality, thoughtful films and collaborations with top talent can be set aside and that Rudin and Pascal could be tarred and defined by momentary lapses and...
Exclusive: How long is Sony Pictures going to silently endure this full-on assault, in which cyber-terrorists are using media outlets to deliver salvos of hacked private e-mails to embarrass and sabotage the regime of Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton?
Wednesday night was particularly bad. Tabloid-style reports hit both trades, focusing on hacked documents about a racially tinged e-mail exchange between Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin. In a lame attempt at humor, they speculated what films President Barack Obama might like, as they discussed an Obama fundraiser held by Jeffrey Katzenberg in 2013. All of the offerings they came up with were black-themed films.
Is it possible their track records for quality, thoughtful films and collaborations with top talent can be set aside and that Rudin and Pascal could be tarred and defined by momentary lapses and...
- 12/11/2014
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline
James Franco has posted an Instagram photo of himself shooting his film adaptation of the novel "Zeroville" alongside cast mates Seth Rogen and Will Ferrell. Rogen plays Viking Man, a character who is a thinly-disguised take on legendary writer/director John Milius. Ferrell's role is unknown, but he looks kind of like he's doing a take on producer Robert Evans.
"Voltage Pictures has scored international rights to Ken Sanzel's action title "Blunt Force Trauma". The story is set in the world of underground gunfights in South America and Ryan Kwanten plays a young man and Freida Pinto a vengeful woman who meet on their quest to locate the clandestine scene's elusive champion..." (full details)
"Starz has scored the North American rights to the action-adventure film "Northmen: A Viking Saga" starring Tom Hopper, Ryan Kwanten, Anatole Taubman, Charlie Murphy, James Norton and Ed Skrein. The story follows a gang of...
"Voltage Pictures has scored international rights to Ken Sanzel's action title "Blunt Force Trauma". The story is set in the world of underground gunfights in South America and Ryan Kwanten plays a young man and Freida Pinto a vengeful woman who meet on their quest to locate the clandestine scene's elusive champion..." (full details)
"Starz has scored the North American rights to the action-adventure film "Northmen: A Viking Saga" starring Tom Hopper, Ryan Kwanten, Anatole Taubman, Charlie Murphy, James Norton and Ed Skrein. The story follows a gang of...
- 11/1/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Writer Anthony McCarten is having a very good year. The playwright and novelist spent ten years writing “The Theory of Everything,” developing Jane Hawking’s book ”Travelling to Infinity" into 2014’s critically acclaimed biopic. Festival and academy screening reactions suggest McCarten could see his first Oscar-nomination in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. And with its limited release imminent, the writer has found a follow-up to sink his teeth into project. He’ll collaborate with George Clooney on his next directorial effort. Deadline reports that McCarten is in talks to adapt Nick Davies’s “Hack Attack,” a non-fiction account of writer The Guardian’s investigation that led to the 2011 News International phone-hacking scandal. As he picked apart the hacking history of British tabloid News of the World, revealing celebrities, politicians, royalty, and policemen as targets, Davies’ discovery of that murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was one of the victims pushed the scandal into public investigation territory.
- 10/30/2014
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
Hugh Grant makes a return to the big screen this week in The Rewrite, a romantic comedy that reunites him with Music and Lyrics director Marc Lawrence.
Grant plays a Hollywood screenwriter whose fallen on hard times and takes up teaching at an East Coast university. Digital Spy caught up with Grant to discuss inspirations for the role, what he gets recognised for most and the best piece of advice he's ever had.
George Clooney's a good egg and on our side. I was emailing him about taking issue with the Daily Mail. He's a good bloke and brave.
The British actor, whose 2011 New Statesman article proved to be something of a landmark moment in the News of the World phone hacking scandal, also discussed his email exchanges with George Clooney about their shared frustrations with the Daily Mail.
Clooney will direct Hack Attack, a film based on Nick Davies...
Grant plays a Hollywood screenwriter whose fallen on hard times and takes up teaching at an East Coast university. Digital Spy caught up with Grant to discuss inspirations for the role, what he gets recognised for most and the best piece of advice he's ever had.
George Clooney's a good egg and on our side. I was emailing him about taking issue with the Daily Mail. He's a good bloke and brave.
The British actor, whose 2011 New Statesman article proved to be something of a landmark moment in the News of the World phone hacking scandal, also discussed his email exchanges with George Clooney about their shared frustrations with the Daily Mail.
Clooney will direct Hack Attack, a film based on Nick Davies...
- 10/9/2014
- Digital Spy
Piers Morgan has proposed that George Clooney should play him in the upcoming movie about the News International phone hacking scandal.
Clooney is signed up to direct the film, which is based on journalist Nick Davies's book Hack Attack, and bookmakers are currently taking bets on who will be cast in the lead roles.
Watch Piers Morgan discussing hacking, Britain's Got Talent and Jeremy Clarkson:
When asked who he would like to play him in the movie, Morgan told Digital Spy: "I hear Brad Pitt fancies it. Pitt would be the aesthetically correct person to play me.
"But I suspect Clooney will want a run at me. I've always got on with George and I'm sure he's thinking, 'What can be better for my career right now than playing Piers Morgan in a movie?'"
Clooney has described the film, which centres on the shutting down of the News of the World,...
Clooney is signed up to direct the film, which is based on journalist Nick Davies's book Hack Attack, and bookmakers are currently taking bets on who will be cast in the lead roles.
Watch Piers Morgan discussing hacking, Britain's Got Talent and Jeremy Clarkson:
When asked who he would like to play him in the movie, Morgan told Digital Spy: "I hear Brad Pitt fancies it. Pitt would be the aesthetically correct person to play me.
"But I suspect Clooney will want a run at me. I've always got on with George and I'm sure he's thinking, 'What can be better for my career right now than playing Piers Morgan in a movie?'"
Clooney has described the film, which centres on the shutting down of the News of the World,...
- 9/12/2014
- Digital Spy
The movie version of me in the The Fifth Estate is younger, cooler and more handsome. Just ask my wife
• Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Julian Assange wins Pm's praise
A word of advice: if you ever find yourself a character in a Hollywood movie, try to avoid being played by the hottest screen heartthrob of the moment.
If you don't, here's a taste of what will happen. Your wife will say things like: "Perhaps he would like to come and spend some time at home familiarising himself with the part … and its wife?" Your colleagues will ask things like: "Will he be wearing a prosthetic nose?" Most people, on hearing the news, will just laugh. A bit too much.
I know this because, until a minor Twitter mishap a few weeks ago, my greatest claim to fame was being the bloke who Dan Stevens pretends to be in The Fifth Estate,...
• Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Julian Assange wins Pm's praise
A word of advice: if you ever find yourself a character in a Hollywood movie, try to avoid being played by the hottest screen heartthrob of the moment.
If you don't, here's a taste of what will happen. Your wife will say things like: "Perhaps he would like to come and spend some time at home familiarising himself with the part … and its wife?" Your colleagues will ask things like: "Will he be wearing a prosthetic nose?" Most people, on hearing the news, will just laugh. A bit too much.
I know this because, until a minor Twitter mishap a few weeks ago, my greatest claim to fame was being the bloke who Dan Stevens pretends to be in The Fifth Estate,...
- 10/8/2013
- by Ian Katz
- The Guardian - Film News
In this second extract from After Leveson, a book edited by John Mair, a former Sunday Mirror editor and News of the World deputy editor airs his grievances about the Leveson process. Paul Connew explains why he believes the Leveson process was flawed and revealed how he came to discover that he too was a victim of phone hacking…
The setting up of the Leveson inquiry wasn't just a blatant example of political expediency, it was a disastrous PR strategy seized on in a blue funk moment of political panic.
Yes, there was a tsunami of public revulsion over the hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone by the News of the World, as revealed in July 2011 by Nick Davies and The Guardian.
But was there a genuine and irresistible public clamour for a judicial inquiry into the "culture, practices and ethics of the British press" (Leveson's terms and conditions)? Probably not.
The setting up of the Leveson inquiry wasn't just a blatant example of political expediency, it was a disastrous PR strategy seized on in a blue funk moment of political panic.
Yes, there was a tsunami of public revulsion over the hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone by the News of the World, as revealed in July 2011 by Nick Davies and The Guardian.
But was there a genuine and irresistible public clamour for a judicial inquiry into the "culture, practices and ethics of the British press" (Leveson's terms and conditions)? Probably not.
- 2/19/2013
- by Roy Greenslade
- The Guardian - Film News
Though the Guardian's Nick Davies has said he suspected there would be no more high-level arrests in the News of the World phone hacking scandal -- and by that he meant at the executive level -- the London Metropolitan Police continues to bring in the paper's former editors. Greg Miskiw, who was the news editor of the now-shuttered tabloid while much of the hacking took place, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of unlawful interception of communications, and conspiring to intercept them as well. Both violate British law. Miskiw, who is the 12th...
- 8/10/2011
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Though the Guardian's Nick Davies has said he suspected there would be no more high-level arrests in the News of the World phone hacking scandal -- and by that he meant at the executive level -- the London Metropolitan Police continues to bring in the paper's former editors. Greg Miskiw, who was the news editor of the now-shuttered tabloid while much of the hacking took place, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of unlawful interception of communications, and conspiring to intercept them as well. Both violate British law. Miskiw, who is the 12th...
- 8/10/2011
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
James Murdoch could lose his job as News Corp's deputy COO or BSkyB's chairman as soon as this fall. That's the informed prediction of The Guardian's Nick Davies in an exclusive interview with me. The journalism muckraker says there's "every chance" that the Parliamentary committee investigating the News of the World phone-hacking and police-bribery scandal will conclude that James misled them about a key question in the case: Did James pay $1.4M in hush money in 2008 to a hacking victim who could have disclosed that Notw's violations were more extensive than the company publicly admitted? James says he didn't. But three former News International executives dispute his testimony. If Parliament decides James is wrong, then "that's a severe development," says Davies. His predictions matter. Because Davies is the reporter who broke open the Murdoch scandal and has led the coverage at every turn. He's also writing a book about the case,...
- 8/7/2011
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
The Guardian's Nick Davies may have been the first to get a book deal out of the phone-hacking scandal, but Banksy is still the innovator when it comes to graffiti. The elusive artist tagged a wall with a playful take on the media world's woes. It depicts a water tap being called -- get it, a tap phoned -- as well as a confused person. Here is a photo of it: Related Articles: ...
- 8/5/2011
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Los Angeles, California (X17online) - Just three weeks after the News of the World phone-hacking scandal broke, a book on the matter has already been sold. Nick Davies, the investigative reporter who broke the story for England's The Guardian, worked out the first deal for his book, Hack Attack: How the Truth Caught Up With the World’s Most Powerful Man. A press release says the tell-all, to be published in fall 2012, will "provide an authoritative account and commentary on the News International scandal, including new revelations." Davies signed with U.S. publisher Faber & Faber and U.K. publisher Chatto & Windus, a division of Random House, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The British journalist was the one who broke the scandal on July 4, when he reported that News of the World hacked into the phone of a young British girl named Milly Dowler. Dowler, 13, disappeared on March 21, 2002, and her...
- 7/26/2011
- x17online.com
The British phone hacking scandal may yet claim the jobs of even higher-ranking officials, but the journalist who broke the story open has already inked a book deal. Nick Davies, the reporter for the Guardian who first exposed the broader scope of the hacking, has sold a book about the scandal titled “Hack Attack” to be released in the fall of 2012. Davies sold the U.S. rights to Faber & Faber, an affiliate of Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, and the U.K. rights to Chatto & Windus, a subsidiary of Random House.
- 7/25/2011
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
• James Murdoch 'misled' culture select committee
• Questions mount over Coulson's mid-level security check
• Sun features editor sacked over his work at NotW
• Click here for a summary of today's key events
9.45am: Welcome to today's live updates on the still-unfolding repercussions of the phone hacking scandal. Following yesterday's Commons statement and debate, the house in now in recess. Rupert Murdoch has left the UK following his testimony to MPs on Tuesday.
So, on the face of it today could appear a slight respite following an almost absurdly dramatic fortnight. A majority of English daily papers – five against four – lead on other stories, including the unfolding crisis in the eurozone.
But rest assured there will be more to come. Nick Clegg is scheduled to give an end-of-term press conference imminently. Perhaps someone could ask why he looked so detached – disinterested, even – during David Cameron's phone hacking statement. There is also surely...
• Questions mount over Coulson's mid-level security check
• Sun features editor sacked over his work at NotW
• Click here for a summary of today's key events
9.45am: Welcome to today's live updates on the still-unfolding repercussions of the phone hacking scandal. Following yesterday's Commons statement and debate, the house in now in recess. Rupert Murdoch has left the UK following his testimony to MPs on Tuesday.
So, on the face of it today could appear a slight respite following an almost absurdly dramatic fortnight. A majority of English daily papers – five against four – lead on other stories, including the unfolding crisis in the eurozone.
But rest assured there will be more to come. Nick Clegg is scheduled to give an end-of-term press conference imminently. Perhaps someone could ask why he looked so detached – disinterested, even – during David Cameron's phone hacking statement. There is also surely...
- 7/22/2011
- by Peter Walker, Paul Owen, David Batty
- The Guardian - Film News
So there's Jude Law as John Yates and of course Hilary Swank as Murdoch Jr ... but if you've got other ideas for our topical conspiracy thriller, we're all ears
It's the story that's absorbed the entire country (if you're a Tory backbencher reading this, please feel free to replace "entire country" with "Westminster bubble"). Phone-hacking might have started at the News of the World, but it has spread to take in our most powerful institutions: parliament, police, media and Paul McMullan's Dover B&B. It has, of course, been a story with tragic elements, but one that has all the dramatic twists and turns of a conspiracy thriller. So why not see if we can cast one?
Some of you may have played the game of casting phone hacking: the movie on YouTube, and on social networks such as Twitter and Bebo. But it's unlikely that you'll have played it...
It's the story that's absorbed the entire country (if you're a Tory backbencher reading this, please feel free to replace "entire country" with "Westminster bubble"). Phone-hacking might have started at the News of the World, but it has spread to take in our most powerful institutions: parliament, police, media and Paul McMullan's Dover B&B. It has, of course, been a story with tragic elements, but one that has all the dramatic twists and turns of a conspiracy thriller. So why not see if we can cast one?
Some of you may have played the game of casting phone hacking: the movie on YouTube, and on social networks such as Twitter and Bebo. But it's unlikely that you'll have played it...
- 7/22/2011
- by Paul MacInnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Some unexpected figures have taken centre stage, from the Four Weddings actor to the News of the World's political editor
Hugh Grant
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star is an unlikely expert on press regulation, but the actor has become an unofficial spokesman for hacking victims, and an articulate critic of the tabloid press in general and the News of the World in particular. Grant was also hacked, although he is unlikely to take action against the paper, and railed against politicians for failing to tame Rupert Murdoch. He said this week: "This is the watershed moment when, finally, the public starts to see ... just how low and how disgusting this particular newspaper's methods were." He visited ex-News of the World journalist Paul McMullan at his Dover pub and secretly recorded a conversation in which McMullan alleged Rebekah Brooks "absolutely" knew about hacking.
Ed Miliband
The Labour leader has...
Hugh Grant
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star is an unlikely expert on press regulation, but the actor has become an unofficial spokesman for hacking victims, and an articulate critic of the tabloid press in general and the News of the World in particular. Grant was also hacked, although he is unlikely to take action against the paper, and railed against politicians for failing to tame Rupert Murdoch. He said this week: "This is the watershed moment when, finally, the public starts to see ... just how low and how disgusting this particular newspaper's methods were." He visited ex-News of the World journalist Paul McMullan at his Dover pub and secretly recorded a conversation in which McMullan alleged Rebekah Brooks "absolutely" knew about hacking.
Ed Miliband
The Labour leader has...
- 7/8/2011
- by James Robinson
- The Guardian - Film News
BBC Two will air a special edition of Charlie Brooker's show Screenwipe this year. Charlie Brooker's 2010 Wipe will examine the year in news, television, games and films. Brooker will be joined by guests including Grace Dent, who will examine the year's soaps. Investigative journalist Nick Davies will discuss the alleged News of the World phone hacking, while comedian Doug Stanhope will talk about the Bp oil disaster. Other topics expected to be explored include the Chilean miners, the elections and the Pope's visit. Brooker's regular guest Tim Key will also (more)...
- 11/29/2010
- by By Catriona Wightman
- Digital Spy
The Columbia Journalism Review has a really interesting piece up about WikiLeaks's latest news coup and how it all came to pass. WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, is a famously independent and skittish entity, and has never to my knowledge coordinated with a news organization. So how exactly did three major news publications publish simultaneous in-depth reports using WikiLeaks's information?
Apparently, it wasn't Assange's idea--at least, Assange didn't spearhead it. Nick Davies, a senior contributor to The Guardian, was intrigued by exposure of Bradley Manning, who claimed to have passed WikiLeaks boatloads of information. Davies took it upon himself to track down Assange, a notoriously transient and mysterious fellow, to see if there might be a news story in all those leaked documents. The two finally met up at a cafe in Brussels to chat about the possibilities of the documents.
It was, however, Assange's idea to rope in...
Apparently, it wasn't Assange's idea--at least, Assange didn't spearhead it. Nick Davies, a senior contributor to The Guardian, was intrigued by exposure of Bradley Manning, who claimed to have passed WikiLeaks boatloads of information. Davies took it upon himself to track down Assange, a notoriously transient and mysterious fellow, to see if there might be a news story in all those leaked documents. The two finally met up at a cafe in Brussels to chat about the possibilities of the documents.
It was, however, Assange's idea to rope in...
- 7/29/2010
- by Dan Nosowitz
- Fast Company
With the recent resurgence of news stories citing the formal cancellation of "Bond 23" (the next James Bond film, where Daniel Craig would be working with director Sam Mendes), Activision finds itself in a peculiar spot of timing with James Bond 007: Blood Stone. There's no movie to tie-in with, so this is basically the only, "new James Bond experience" for 2010 -- here's hoping that we get something closer to EA's excellent Everything Or Nothing rather than the lackluster Quantum of Solace. Now that Blood Stone has been formally announced this morning, we shot some questions over to producer Nick Davies over at developer Bizarre Creations.
1Up: Because of stuff like the HMV retail leak a while back, there's a lot of confusion about Blood Stone. Is it a driving game with a Bond skin, or is it a mash-up of The Club with Pgr, or what. So can you clarify,...
1Up: Because of stuff like the HMV retail leak a while back, there's a lot of confusion about Blood Stone. Is it a driving game with a Bond skin, or is it a mash-up of The Club with Pgr, or what. So can you clarify,...
- 7/19/2010
- UGO Movies
Canongate has confirmed plans for a Dizzee Rascal autobiography to be released in October 2010. The Brit Award-winning artist's Dirtee Stank Recordings label has joined with the publisher to produce the volume through the new Dirtee Books imprint, The Bookseller reports. Canongate editorial director Nick Davies signed the deal with Dirtee Stank's Nick Detnon for an undisclosed sum. Rascal will co-author the book (more)...
- 3/5/2010
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
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