SNOWDEN

Cast

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden

Shailene Woodley as Lindsay Mills

Melissa Leo as Laura Poitras

Zachary Quinto as Glenn Greenwald

Tom Wilkinson as Ewen MacAskill

Scott Eastwood as Trevor

Logan Marshall-Green

Timothy Olyphant

Ben Schnetzer

LaKeith Lee Stanfield

Rhys Ifans

Nicolas Cage

Snowden is an upcoming American biographical political thriller film directed by Oliver Stone and written by Stone and Kieran Fitzgerald. The film is based on the books The Snowden Files by Luke Harding and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood, Logan Marshall-Green, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Schnetzer, LaKeith Lee Stanfield, Rhys Ifans and Nicolas Cage. Filming began on February 16, 2015 in Munich, Germany. Snowden is scheduled to be released in North America on September 16, 2016, by Open Road Films.

Casting

On September 21, 2014, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in talks to play Edward Snowden, the American computer professional who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) to the mainstream media starting in June 2013.[9] On November 10, 2014, news confirmed that Gordon-Levitt would be starring in the lead role. On November 14, 2014, Shailene Woodley was in final talks to join the film to play Snowden's girlfriend, Lindsay Mills.On February 2, 2015, Scott Eastwood joined the cast to play an NSA agent.[12] On February 4, 2015, three more actors joined the cast; Melissa Leo will play documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, Zachary Quinto will play Glenn Greenwald, the journalist chosen by Snowden to leak sensitive information, and Tom Wilkinson will play Ewen MacAskill, defense and intelligence correspondent for The Guardian, who helped report the Snowden story.On February 13, 2015, Variety reported that Ben Schnetzer had also joined the film.On February 19, 2015, Timothy Olyphant joined the film to star as a CIA agent who befriended Snowden before he fled to Russia, and Rhys Ifans and Joely Richardson were added to the cast of the film on February 20, 2015. Nicolas Cage also signed on to play the role of a former US Intelligence official on February 23, 2015. Keith Stanfield was added to the cast on February 25, 2015 to play a National Security Agency co-worker and a close friend to Snowden.

For his role as Snowden, Joseph Gordon-Levitt pledged to donate his entire salary from the film to "help facilitate the conversation" about the relationship between technology and democracy.

Filming

Principal photography began on February 16, 2015 in Munich, Germany.Shooting was underway in Washington, D.C. in early-April. Shooting in Hawaii began on April 15 and lasted until April 18. The house used to film is on the same street Edward Snowden lived on. At the end of April, Hong Kong press reported that crews started filming in The Mira Hong Kong, followed by outdoor filming in some old buildings in To Kwa Wan.Shooting lasted until mid-May.

Due to fear of interference by the National Security Agency, Stone decided to shoot the film outside of the United States.[1] "We felt like we were at risk here. We didn’t know what the NSA might do, so we ended up in Munich, which was a beautiful experience," Stone said.
Academy Award®-winning director Oliver Stone, who brought Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street and JFK to the big screen, tackles the most important and fascinating true story of the 21st century. Snowden, the politically-charged, pulse-pounding thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the NSA and became one of the most wanted men in the world. He is considered a hero by some, and a traitor by others. No matter which you believe, the epic story of why he did it, who he left behind, and how he pulled it off makes for one of the most compelling films of the year.