Bradley Manning Hollywood Drama Planned
A Hollywood drama about whistleblower Bradley Manning is already in the works: Variety reports that Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney and producer Marc Shmuger are seeking writers to adapt Denver Nicks’ book Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History into a screenplay for a feature film.
Manning, an Army private charged with 22 criminal counts for passing classified documents to WikiLeaks, was found not guilty yesterday by a military judge of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge. Manning was convicted of most of the other charges he faced, including counts of espionage and theft.
“I hope that Judge Lind will be lenient in her sentence, taking into consideration Manning’s intent, his willingness to take responsibility for his actions and the outrageously abusive treatment he has received at the hands of the Obama Administration,” Gibney said in response to the verdict.
Gibney and Shmuger have has already made one film that involved Manning: their documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
The proposed Manning drama is one of several Wikileaks-related film projects under way. The Fifth Estate, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is a dramatic portrayal of the organization that Assange has criticized as “a massive propaganda attack.”
The sentencing phase of Manning’s trial is scheduled to begin today. He faces up to 136 years in prison, though he will likely receive a shorter sentence.