George Clooney directs film on British phone hacking scandal, Latest Entertainment News - The New Paper
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George Clooney directs film on British phone hacking scandal

Hackers and their high-profile celebrity-victims have been hogging headlines recently.

But cast your mind from Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence and company to a made-in-Britain scandal. That's the reason actor-filmmaker George Clooney is directing a movie.

Studio Sony Pictures Entertainment said on Wednesday he's helming  "Hack Attack", based on the 2014 book of the same name by journalist Nick Davies.

The scandal erupted in 2011, when the public learnt that staff from media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation had hacked the telephone voice mails of celebrities, members of the royal family and bombing victims to gain private information.

Victims included Milly Dowler, the 13 year-old school girl who was murdered on her way home from school.


Milly Dowler and Prince William's phones were two out of the many phones that were hacked by the media. Photos: Facebook, AFP

 

Prince William's private voice messages to his wife and family were also intercepted.

Clooney, 53, said in a statement: "This has all the elements - lying, corruption, blackmail - at the highest levels of government by the biggest newspaper in London. And the fact that it's true is the best part."

The fallout also affected Prime Minister David Cameron, whose media chief Andy Coulson was forced to resign in 2011.

The scandal happened on Coulson's watch, when he was News of the World editor.

Production on the film is scheduled to start next year.

- Reuters

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