George Clooney has not been afraid in his career to call out media for unethical conduct and now he will get the ultimate opportunity to expose the inner workings of Rupert Murdoch's media empire as he directs a new film, "Hack Attack,"
Variety reports.
The film is based on the book by Guardian journalist Nick Davies, "Hack Attack: The Inside Story of How the Truth Caught Up With Rupert Murdoch." Davies investigated Murdoch's News Corp. and subsidiary News Intl. and exposed their penchant for hacking voicemails of not only celebrities, but regular citizens, in a quest for digging up dirt and exposing private secrets.
Once uncovered, the scandal shut down the long-running British publication, "News of the World," in 2011, and shined a light on media corruption in the industry, which led to a government investigation on invasion of privacy.
The territory is something Clooney, the son of a Kentucky broadcast journalist, knows well and has railed against. Recently, he went after Britain's Daily Mail for claiming the family of his fiancee, attorney Amal Alamuddin, didn't approve of him and had concerns over religious differences — a story the two-time Academy Award winner slammed as untrue and irresponsible,
Yahoo.com reported.
The Daily Mail later apologized — a mea culpa Clooney rejected.
"This has all the elements – lying, corruption, blackmail – at the highest levels of government by the biggest newspaper in London," Clooney said in a statement about "Hack Attack," which is set to start filming next year. "And the fact that it’s true is the best part. Nick is a brave and stubborn reporter, and we consider it an honor to put his book to film."
Not surprisingly, the film is being made by Sony Pictures Entertainment, "a media conglomerate that competes with Mr. Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox,"
The New York Times noted.
Clooney is expected to wed sometime this month. He and Alamuddin secured a marriage license in London in early August,
People reported.