It has already been nearly a year since it was revealed that the Russo Brothers’ are developing and producing a new untitled film based on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and now Collider is bringing word that long-time TV director Matt Shakman (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Game of Thrones, WandaVision) is currently in negotiations to helm the project for AGBO Films. If the deal pushes through, this would be Shakman’s second feature following his 2014 directorial film debut Cut Bank which starred Liam Hemsworth and John Malkovich.
Pineapple Express filmmaker David Gordon Green was previously attached to direct but had ultimately passed up the project in order to film Blumhouse’s upcoming Halloween sequels back-to-back.
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The film will revolve around young data consultant Christopher Wylie and the data mining operation Cambridge Analytica, which was founded by conservative billionaire Robert Mercer and eventual ex-White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. The firm utilized Wylie’s algorithm techniques to illegally exploit people’s Facebook information in order to stage a massive disinformation campaign on social media that played a part in handing Donald Trump the Presidency.
Wylie’s journey from architect to eventual whistleblower will be the arc of the film’s story. The story has been in the news lately as Facebook itself is currently finalizing a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to fork over $5 billion dollars for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Although Cambridge Analytica technically shut down, it still essentially exists under the name Emerdata with many of the same people involved.
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The untitled Cambridge Analytica film will also be based on Carole Cadwalladr’s article in The Guardian. For her coverage on the scandal, Cadwalladr became a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. The film will be written by Avengers: Endgame scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It will be produced by Joe and Anthony Russo through their AGBO films banner alongside Mike Larocca.
(Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images)
