Netflix to bring 'Panama Papers' to life with new feature film
Netflix is looking for its Spotlight.
The Los Gatos-based streaming service announced Tuesday that it is tackling the definitive story behind The Panama Papers, which some deem the biggest leak in the history of journalism.
The leak released 2.6 terabytes of data in 11.5 million documents tracking billions of dollars over almost 40 years. In the process, world leaders, athletes and celebrities around the globe were implicated.
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More than 370 journalists from more than 100 media outlets in almost 80 countries around the world worked on the story, but it was German journalists Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer -- and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists -- that took the lead.
Netflix has acquired the rights to Obermaier and Obermayer's book The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money.
The journalists will work alongside John Wells Productions (Burnt, August Osage County, Love and Mercy), Claire Rudnick Polstein, and executive producer Zach Studin, on the feature film.
Marina Walker, deputy director of ICIJ, and Gerard Ryle, who leads the ICIJ’s headquarters staff in Washington D.C., will also serve as collaborators for the film.
“We are confident that between the expert investigative work of Obermaier and Obermayer, the only journalists in touch directly with John Doe, the ICIJ, and the master storytelling of John Wells Productions, we will be able to deliver a gripping tale that will deliver the same type of impact as the The Panama Papers when they were first revealed on the world’s front pages,” Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix, said in a statement.
Topics Netflix
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
