Every couple of months or so, I’ll change the password on my iPhone. Call me crazy, but I get really really concerned that someone will look through my apps and discover my Words with Friends score (lackluster) or review my most recent photostream (dog selfies). So it’s probably almost important that George Clooney plans to direct a movie about the UK phone hacking scandal, which ended News of the World, hurt so many people’s lives, and encouraged me to change my Bank of America passcode – almost twice (!!!)
Clooney’s film, based on the painfully named book Hack Attack, will focus on the efforts of journalist Nick Davies, who uncovered much of the sloppy journalism at News Corp/News International. In his account, Davies explores how the 168-year-old publication hacked into the voicemails of politicians, elected officials, ordinary citizens undergoing unordinary trauma. At one point, News of the World even hacked into the voicemail of murdered teenager “Milly Dowler” – all without telling her crying parents, of course. Whoopsies!
According to Variety, Michael DeLuca will oversee the project for Sony Pictures. And while I grew up with E.R. George Clooney, I’m excited to see what this super legit director will do with this super important (sometimes boring) story. DeLuca himself says:
“With Hack Attack, George . . . will explore a business where all the rules of journalism are broken in the race for an easy and ever-larger payday.”
Do journalists honestly make all that money? Even the fancy ones? Let me tell you, I know one or two journalists who actually “made it” in life, and they still use coupons every time we buy paper towels together. Embarrassing. Still, I wonder how Clooney – who totally killed Good Night, and Good Luck – will treat Hack Attack. Make it better? Smarter? Who knows. Definitely, more handsome.